HOUSTON (AP) — Carlos Rodón pitched six strong innings to tie for the major league victory lead with 16 and Trent Grisham hit his career-high 30th homer of the season and 100th of his career to help the New York Yankees beat the Houston Astros 8-4 on Thursday night.

Ryan McMahon also homered for the Yankees.

New York led by a run in the eighth when McMahon hit an RBI single before Grisham’s three-run shot made it 8-3.

The Yankees took two of three in this series for their first series win against a team with a winning record since they swept Seattle from July 8-10.

Rodón (16-7) yielded three hits and two runs — one earned — to tie Milwaukee’s Freddy Peralta for the victory lead.

Houston starter Cristian Javier (1-2) allowed six hits and four runs in 4 1/3 innings.

Yordan Alvarez homered and tied a career high with four hits for a second straight night for the Astros. He hit an RBI single in the ninth and Houston loaded the bases with one out but David Bednar struck out Carlos Correa and Christian Walker to end it.

An RBI single by McMahon put the Yankees up 1-0 in the second. A solo home run by Alvarez tied it with two outs in the third.

McMahon hit a solo homer in New York’s three-run fifth that made it 4-1.

The Astros added a run in sixth with the help of two New York errors before Jesús Sánchez’s pinch-hit homer made it 4-3 in the seventh.

New York second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. left in the fourth inning with bruises to his knees. The team said he bruised both knees and that the injuries happened on different plays.

There was a delay in the ninth inning after Taylor Trammell doubled and Yankees manager Aaron Boone asked officials to check his bat. Both managers talked to home plate umpire Adrian Johnson and he then talked to the replay office in New York. Johnson eventually handed the bat to an official sitting near home plate and play resumed.

RAYS 4, GUARDIANS 2

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Ryan Pepiot struck out six in five hitless innings and Christopher Morel had three hits and an RBI as the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Cleveland Guardians 4-2 on Thursday night.

Carson Williams also drove in two runs for Tampa Bay, which won its season-high seventh straight game and for the 10th time in 12 games.

With the victory, the Rays move within two games of idle Seattle in the race for the final AL wild-card spot — the closest they have been to a playoff spot since July 26, when they were 1 1/2 games back.

Pepiot (11-10) walked two in the victory and a combined no-hit bid was spoiled after 5 2/3 innings when José Ramírez singled off Bryan Baker.

Pete Fairbanks allowed consecutive homers by Ramírez and Kyle Manzardo in the top of the ninth before getting the next three outs to close out the victory.

Junior Caminero, Brandon Lowe, and Jake Mangum also had hits for Tampa Bay.

Logan Allen (7-11) allowed six hits and four runs with four strikeouts in the loss for the Guardians, who have lost four of their last five games and slipped 3 1/2 games back in the wild-card race.

PIRATES 5, DODGERS 3

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Paul Skenes pitched six scoreless innings and earned his 10th win of the season as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3 on Thursday night to complete a three-game series sweep.

Skenes (10-9) allowed two hits, struck out eight, and walked one. The right-hander finally got his record above .500 for the first time this season and lowered his ERA to a major league-best 1.98.

Skenes, last season’s NL Rookie of the Year who was 4-8 this season for the last-place Pirates, has won six of his last seven decisions.

The Dodgers were held to five hits and had their division lead cut to two games over idle San Diego.

Mookie Betts broke up the Pirates’ shutout bid with a leadoff home run in the ninth inning, and RBI singles by Pedro Pages and Miguel Rojas cut the deficit to 5-3. However, Colin Holderman struck out Ben Rortvedt to end it for his first save of the season.

Dodgers starter Blake Snell (3-4) was tagged for five runs and nine hits in five innings.

Tommy Pham’s single in the third inning opened the scoring, and Nick Yorke’s two-run double highlighted a four-run fifth that pushed the Pirates’ lead to 5-0.

The Dodgers lost for the fifth time in six games, and the Pirates won for the 12th time in 16 games.