HOUSTON -- When the Seattle Mariners took a chance by pitching to Houston's Yordan Alvarez instead of walking him with two on and one out in the 10th inning Sunday, the All-Star slugger was determined to take advantage of the opportunity.
"I just got focused and said I was going to be the one," he said in Spanish through a translator.
And he was -- hitting an RBI single to lift the Astros to a 3-2 win.
Mauricio Dubon started the 10th as the automatic runner on second and the Mariners intentionally walked Jose Altuve. Dubon advanced to third on a sacrifice fly by Yuli Gurriel.
Alvarez then laced a grounder off Brennan Bernardino (0-1), who was making his MLB debut, to left field to send Dubon home and start the celebration.
"Tough place to make your Major League debut in," Manager Scott Servais said. "Tough situation when they start with the guy on second and here comes the Astros' top of the lineup."
Hector Neris (4-3) pitched a scoreless 10th for the win.
The AL-West leading Astros scored two runs in the first inning to take the lead. The Mariners, who are 12 games back in second place in the division, used a two-run home run by Jesse Winker in the eight inning to tie it.
"Once they tied it up, I think we got a lot of energy," Alvarez said. "Then we told ourselves: 'OK, we can't lose today's game like we did yesterday,' and that was kind of part of it."
BLUE JAYS 4, TIGERS 1 Matt Chapman hit a two-run home run, Jose Berrios pitched seven strong innings to win his third consecutive decision and Toronto beat error-prone Detroit.
GUARDIANS 5, RAYS 3 Austin Hedges had a tiebreaking two-run single in the fifth to help Cleveland beat All-Star Game starter Shane McClanahan and Tampa Bay.
RANGERS 5, ANGELS 2 Ezequiel Duran hit a three-run double in the ninth inning as Texas beat the Angels despite Los Angeles starter Reid Detmers throwing an immaculate inning.
ROYALS 8, YANKEES 6 Salvador Perez hit a three-run home run off All-Star closer Clay Holmes in the ninth inning, and Kansas City beat New York to avoid being swept in the season series.
WHITE SOX 4, ATHLETICS 1 Jose Abreu and Eloy Jimenez homered, Dylan Cease threw six strong innings and Chicago won for the 10th time in 15 games and moved about .500.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
BRAVES 1, DIAMONDBACKS 0 Austin Riley hit a run-scoring double off Mark Melancon in the ninth inning and Atlanta completed a three-game sweep of Arizona.
CARDINALS 5, NATIONALS 0 Paul DeJong homered for the second consecutive game after ending a minor league demotion, Andre Pallante (4-4) pitched into the ninth inning and St. Louis Cardinals blanked Washington.
DODGERS 7, ROCKIES 3 James Outman homered on the first swing of his first big-league at-bat and finished with three hits and three RBI as Los Angeles beat Colorado and closed out July with 21 victories.
GIANTS 4, CUBS 0 Carlos Rodon (9-6) struck out 10 over seven dominant innings amid speculation he could be traded, and San Francisco beat Chicago.
METS 9, MARLINS 3 Francisco Lindor had three hits and New York pounded trade deadline target Pablo Lopez and swept Miami and handed the Marlins their seventh consecutive home loss.
PHILLIES 8, PIRATES 2 Alec Bohm fell a triple shy of the cycle and matched a career best with four hits as Philadelphia completed a four-game sweep of Pittsburgh.
INTERLEAGUE
PADRES 3, TWINS 2 Jurickson Profar homered for the second consecutive game and had a hand in the go-ahead rally as San Diego took two out of three from AL Central-leading Minnesota.
RED SOX 7, BREWERS 2 Xander Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez and Christian Vazquez each had an RBI double as Boston won for the fourth time in 17 games.
REDS 3, ORIOLES 2 Brandon Drury reached 20 home runs for the first time in his big league career when he hit a tiebreaking drive in the eighth inning to give Cincinnati a win over Baltimore.
Houston Astros' Yordan Alvarez, right, hits a game-winning RBI-single during the 10th inning of a baseball game as Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh watches Sunday, July 31, 2022, in Houston. The Astros won 3-2 in 10 innings. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)