ANAHEIM (Interstat) — Yordan Alvarez delivered a tie-breaking single in the top of the ninth inning, lifting the Houston Astros to a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium.

The Astros (54-55) won their second straight game in the series, following a 6-4 victory Monday, while the Angels (42-66) dropped their fourth in five contests. The game drew 32,051 fans and lasted 2 hours, 53 minutes.

Houston struck first in the opening inning. After Jeremy Peña struck out, Alvarez crushed a 1-0 pitch from Angels starter Reid Detmers over the wall in right-center field for his 35th home run of the season, giving the Astros a 1-0 lead. Detmers settled in after that, striking out Isaac Paredes and Christian Walker to end the inning.

The Angels answered in the third against Houston starter Peter Lambert. Zach Neto led off with a single to center and moved to third on a Nolan Schanuel fly out. Jorge Soler walked, and Vaughn Grissom ripped a sharp single to left, scoring Neto to tie the game at 1-1.

Houston regained the lead in the fourth. With one out, Christian Walker homered to left, his 21st of the year, putting the Astros ahead 2-1. Jose Altuve followed with a single but was erased on a force out. Detmers worked out of further trouble, striking out Peña and Alvarez to end the frame.

Detmers finished five innings, allowing four hits and two earned runs while striking out nine. Lambert matched him, going five innings with seven hits and two earned runs, striking out six.

The Angels pulled even again in the fifth. Mike Trout singled sharply to center with one out. After Schanuel flied out, Soler doubled to left, scoring Trout and tying the game at 2-2. Grissom singled but was left stranded when Wade Meckler struck out.

Both bullpens took over from there. Houston’s Bryan Abreu, Enyel De Los Santos, and Steven Okert each tossed a scoreless inning, with Okert striking out two in the seventh. For the Angels, Samy Natera Jr. retired four straight batters, and Kirby Yates worked a clean eighth, striking out the side around a single.

The game remained tied into the ninth. Angels reliever Mitch Farris (0-2) entered and immediately allowed a leadoff double to Nick Allen. Lucas Spence struck out, but Christian Vázquez singled to right, sending Allen to third. Peña then struck out for the second out, bringing up Alvarez.

Alvarez lined a sharp single to center field off Farris, scoring Allen and giving Houston a 3-2 lead. Paredes flied out to end the inning.

Josh Hader came on for the save attempt in the bottom of the ninth. He retired Oswald Peraza on a groundout, got Logan O’Hoppe on a flyout to center, and induced a groundout from Neto to shortstop to secure his 14th save of the season.

Okert (4-1) earned the win with his scoreless inning. Farris took the loss. Lambert’s strong outing was a key for Houston; in his previous two starts, he had allowed one earned run over six innings against Miami and three earned over six against Baltimore. Detmers also impressed for the Angels, striking out nine over five innings while yielding only two runs.

The Astros finished with nine hits, led by Alvarez’s two hits and two RBIs. Walker added a homer and Altuve collected two singles. The Angels managed seven hits, with Grissom getting two hits and an RBI and Soler doubling and driving in a run.

Houston will look to complete a three-game sweep Wednesday night at Anaheim. The Astros then return home for a weekend series against Texas, while the Angels host Milwaukee.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Houston 5, Los Angeles 4. The ELO system gave Houston a 57.30 percent probability to win. Houston was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The total score of 5 went over the over/under line of 8.5.