HOUSTON (Interstat) — Cole Young’s three-run home run in the ninth inning put the game out of reach, and Emerson Hancock pitched seven strong innings as the Seattle Mariners beat the Houston Astros 10-5 on Saturday at Daikin Park.

The Mariners improved to 58-66 with the win, while the Astros dropped to 63-61. Seattle won one night after Houston took the opener of the series 10-7 in 10 innings. The teams close the three-game set Sunday.

Hancock earned the win, improving to 7-7. He allowed two earned runs on five hits and struck out eight over seven innings. Hancock walked two batters. The Astros did not score against him after the second inning.

Houston starter Hayden Wesneski took the loss, falling to 2-1.

Seattle finished with 15 hits. Young went 3 for 5 with a home run and four RBIs. Brendan Donovan went 3 for 5 with three RBIs. Victor Robles went 2 for 4 with two RBIs and a triple. Dominic Canzone added two hits. Julio Rodríguez and Josh Naylor each had two hits as well.

Houston collected eight hits. Isaac Paredes went 3 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs. Jose Altuve went 2 for 4 with an RBI and a triple. Christian Vázquez homered for the Astros.

The Astros struck first in the bottom of the first. Yordan Alvarez walked, and Isaac Paredes and Daulton Varsho followed with singles to load the bases. Altuve singled to left, scoring Alvarez. Hancock then retired Christian Walker and Taylor Trammell on strikeouts to limit the damage to one run.

Seattle answered in the second with four runs. Julio Rodríguez singled to center, and Josh Naylor singled to right to put runners at the corners. Young singled through the middle off Wesneski to score Rodríguez. Robles then tripled to right-center, with the ball deflected by center fielder Daulton Varsho, scoring Naylor and Young. Donovan singled to right to bring home Robles, and Seattle led 4-1.

The Astros cut into the lead in the bottom of the second when Vázquez homered to left, his sixth of the season, making it 4-2.

Seattle added a run in the fourth. Young singled to right, advanced to second when Robles walked, and scored on Donovan’s single to left. That gave the Mariners a 5-2 lead.

Hancock settled in after the early innings. He retired the side in order in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. In the seventh, Walker struck out, and Trammell reached on a walk after a challenge overturned the original call. Cam Smith grounded to first, moving Trammell to second, but Trammell was then picked off third base to end the inning.

The Mariners extended their lead in the eighth. With one out, Robles singled to center. Brock Rodden doubled to center, scoring Robles, and Donovan singled to center, scoring Rodden. Seattle led 7-2. Randy Arozarena reached on a fielding error by shortstop Jeremy Peña, but Canzone popped out to end the inning.

Houston answered in the bottom of the eighth. After a groundout, Jeremy Peña doubled to center. Yordan Alvarez grounded out, allowing Peña to reach third. Paredes then homered to left-center, his 16th of the season, cutting Seattle’s lead to 7-4.

The decisive blow came in the top of the ninth. Rodríguez singled to left, and Naylor singled to left, putting runners at first and third. Young then homered to right, his 15th of the season, scoring Rodríguez and Naylor and giving Seattle a 10-4 lead.

The Astros got one run back in the bottom of the ninth. Altuve tripled to center and scored on Christian Walker’s groundout to second. Taylor Trammell flied out to right, and Cam Smith popped out to first in foul territory to end the game.

Seattle’s bullpen finished the eighth and ninth innings. Bryan King worked a scoreless inning for Houston, allowing one hit and striking out one. Seranthony Domínguez allowed one earned run on one hit in the ninth for Seattle.

Attendance was 34,664. The game lasted 2 hours, 44 minutes.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Houston 5, Seattle 2. Interstat’s ELO system gave Houston a 56.70 percent probability to win. Seattle was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The teams combined for 15 runs, going under the over/under line of 8.5.