HOUSTON (Interstat) — Martín Pérez, a non-roster invitee who was designated for assignment in April, started the game that allowed Atlanta to clinch the National League East on Sunday afternoon, and the Braves rode a four-run sixth inning to a 4-2 victory over the Houston Astros at Daikin Park. The win gave Atlanta its seventh division title in nine years and improved the Braves to 92-64. Houston fell to 77-79. The game took 2 hours, 46 minutes and drew 36,612. Atlanta finished with six hits, while Houston had eight.

Pérez, who had won his previous two starts with strong outings against the Chicago Cubs and Tampa Bay Rays, kept Houston in check for much of the afternoon. He allowed one run on six hits over 4 1/3 innings, walking two and striking out two. Victor Mederos recorded the final two outs of the fifth and earned the win, improving to 5-1. AJ Smith-Shawver followed with two scoreless innings, striking out four. Ray Kerr worked the eighth and allowed a solo homer, and Dylan Dodd struck out all three batters he faced in the ninth for his second save.

Houston starter Hunter Brown was excellent in a no-decision, throwing five scoreless innings with three hits, two walks and 10 strikeouts. Bryan King took the loss, falling to 3-6. Tatsuya Imai and Miguel Ullola each pitched two scoreless innings out of the Houston bullpen. Imai struck out four, while Ullola walked one. The Astros’ pitching staff combined to strike out 14 Atlanta batters, but the Braves found the one big swing they needed.

Atlanta had trouble solving Brown early. In the first, Drake Baldwin walked, but Ronald Acuña Jr. and Matt Olson struck out, and after Michael Harris II reached on a fielding error by Isaac Paredes, Mauricio Dubón struck out. In the second, Yastrzemski singled, but Ozzie Albies, Brewer Hicklen and Ha-Seong Kim all struck out. Baldwin singled in the third, but Olson and Dubón struck out around a Harris walk. The Braves managed only three hits against Brown and did not score until the sixth.

Houston had its best early chance in the first. Jeremy Peña singled, Yordan Alvarez reached on a forceout, and after Paredes popped out, Jose Altuve and Yainer Diaz singled to load the bases. Christian Walker flew out to center to end the threat. In the fifth, Brice Matthews singled, Peña reached on a forceout, Alvarez singled and Paredes walked to load the bases again. Altuve struck out, and Diaz grounded into a forceout. Those missed chances loomed large when Atlanta broke through in the sixth.

Atlanta’s decisive rally came in the sixth. Harris walked, Dubón doubled to left field, and Albies singled to right to score Harris and tie the game. Yastrzemski then hit a three-run homer to right-center, scoring Dubón and Albies, and giving Atlanta a 4-1 lead. Yastrzemski finished 2-for-4 with one homer and three RBIs. He homered three times during Atlanta’s 4-2 road trip, and his latest blast provided the difference in the division-clinching victory.

After Yastrzemski’s homer, Houston’s bullpen kept Atlanta off the scoreboard. Imai struck out four over two innings, and Ullola added two scoreless innings with one walk. But the Astros could not close the gap until the eighth, when Diaz homered to right-center. Diaz finished 2-for-4 with one homer and one RBI. Walker struck out, and Cam Smith grounded out softly to Kerr to end the inning.

Dodd then took over in the ninth and struck out Nick Allen, Matthews and Peña in order. The save was Dodd’s second of the season. The win put Atlanta in position to spend the final six games of the regular season preparing for the postseason. Atlanta will return home to face the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday. Houston will travel to Seattle to face the Mariners on Tuesday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Atlanta 5, Houston 4. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Atlanta with a 54.2 percent probability to win. Houston had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The over/under line was 8, and the game’s combined scoring was six runs. Atlanta entered the final week as the NL’s seed, with a Wild Card Series opponent likely to be the Padres, Cubs or division-rival Phillies.