HOUSTON -- After falling behind early on, Houston chipped away at Kansas City's lead before one mighty swing by Yordan Alvarez completed the Astros' biggest comeback win of the season.
Alvarez homered with two outs in the ninth inning, and Houston beat the Kansas City Royals 7-6 on Monday for its seventh consecutive victory.
"Nobody in the dugout gives up throughout the game ... even if we're losing like that," Alvarez said through a translator.
Led by Kyle Tucker and Alvarez, AL West-leading Houston erased a five-run deficit on the way to its 15th victory in its last 18 games. Tucker sparked the Astros' three-run eighth with a two-run single, and Alvarez hit a drive to left-center against Scott Barlow (2-2) for his 24th home run.
"I just tried to get focused, see a pitch up in the zone, but that pitch came back to the middle of the plate and I was able to hit it," Alvarez said.
Former University of Arkansas pitcher Ryne Stanek (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth for the win.
The Astros also won in their last at-bat on Sunday, using Jeremy Pena's tiebreaking two-run home run with two out in the ninth to post a 4-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.
It's the first time the Astros have had consecutive last at-bat wins on home runs since Mark Loretta and Carlos Lee on June 28-29, 2007, against Colorado.
Andrew Benintendi (Razorbacks) had three hits and two RBI for Kansas City, which had won three of four. MJ Melendez, a former Northwest Arkansas Natural, hit two solo home run.
"It's one of the tougher ones of the season. ... You like the chances of us being able to finish that off," Royals Manager Mike Matheny said.
The Royals jumped on Jake Odorizzi for five runs in three innings in his return from injury. Hunter Dozier and Benintendi each hit a two-run single, and Melendez connected in the third.
The Astros trailed 6-3 in the eighth when Wyatt Mills walked Peña with no outs before Amir Garrett took over. The left-hander then issued back-to-back walks to Alvarez and Alex Bregman to load the bases.
Tucker followed with a liner to center. Yuli Gurriel then greeted Taylor Clarke with a tying RBI single. But Clarke retired the next three batters to limit the damage.
Kansas City wasted a solid performance by Jonathan Heasley, who allowed one earned run and 3 hits in 6 innings.
Odorizzi set season highs by allowing nine hits and five earned runs in four innings. He had been sidelined by left leg injury.
RED SOX 4, RAYS 0 Trevor Story homered, Kutter Crawford pitched 5 1/3 innings of two-hit relief and Boston won its eighth consecutive Fourth of July game, beating Tampa Bay. Franchy Cordero added an RBI single for the Red Sox. Tampa Bay had its three-game winning streak halted. The Rays had just two hits, both singles. Crawford (2-2) struck out eight and walked one, and John Schreiber got five outs for his third save of the season. Josh Fleming (2-4) gave up four runs in five innings of relief.
TIGERS 4-5, GUARDIANS 1-3 Jonathan Schoop had two singles to close out a six-hit night, Eric Haase had his sixth home run and Tyler Alexander pitched three-plus scoreless innings of relief to lead Detroit to a 5-3 win in the second game for a sweep of the day-night doubleheader against Cleveland. Schoop, who entered the day hitting .191, had four singles in four at-bats in a 4-1 Tigers win in the opener.
ORIOLES 7, RANGERS 6 (10) Jorge Mateo limped to first base when Matt Moore (3-1) hit him near the left knee with the bases loaded in the 10th for Baltimore. Rookie Adley Rutschman tied the score against Joe Barlow with a two-out RBI double in the ninth that hit off the right-field wall. Baltimore got its sixth walkoff win and reached the season's midpoint at 37-44, a vast improvement from 27-54 at the halfway point last year. Bryan Baker (3-3) struck out two in a hitless 10th.
TWINS 6, WHITE SOX 3 (10) Luis Arraez had three hits, including a tiebreaking RBI single in Minnesota's four-run 10th inning, and the Twins beat the Chicago White Sox. Arraez's leadoff grounder against Joe Kelly drove in pinch-runner Gilberto Celestino. Jorge Polanco added a sacrifice fly, and Alex Kirilloff made it 6-2 with a two-run single. The AL Central contenders faced off hours after a gunman opened fire on an Independence Day parade in suburban Chicago, killing at least six people. The White Sox talked to Major League Baseball about postponing the game, but it went on as scheduled.
A'S 5, BLUE JAYS 1 Stephen Vogt hit a home run and a sacrifice fly as Oakland defeated Toronto. Ramon Laureano also went deep and Elvis Andrus had an early two-run double to back Cole Irvin's gem for the A's, who drew a season-high 24,403 fans on a Fourth of July fireworks night. Irvin struck out four and didn't walk a batter over a season-best eight innings to earn his first win in nine starts since returning from the injured list on May 22.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
BREWERS 5, CUBS 2 Victor Caratini hit a three-run home run off Scott Effross (1-4) with two outs in the 10th after striking out in his four previous at-bats. Brad Boxberger (3-1) struck out out Willson Contreras and Ian Happ. to escape a bases-loaded jam in the 10th. Seiya Suzuki, playing for the first time since May 26 after recovering from a sprained left ring finger, hit a go-ahead, inside-the-park home run in the ninth.
METS 7, REDS 4 Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor homered, helping the New York Mets beat Cincinnati. Taijuan Walker struck out nine in six innings as NL East-leading New York earned its second win in a row after a stretch of four losses in five games. Nick Senzel and Brandon Drury homered for last-place Cincinnati, which lost for the fifth time in six games.
MARLINS 3, NATIONALS 2 (10) Bryan De La Cruz hit a two-run home run off the foul pole in the 10th for Miami, a drive off Tanner Rainey (1-3). Miami beat Washington for the 12th time in 13 games this year, including seven in a row. The Marlins extended their winning streak to five. Jimmy Yacabonis (1-1) got the win after pitching a scoreless ninth, and Dylan Floro got his second save in as many days -- his first two this season.
D-BACKS 8, GIANTS 3 Madison Bumgarner posted a win against his former team and Arizona beat San Francisco, handing the Giants their fifth consecutive loss. Buddy Kennedy drove in two runs and Cooper Hummel scored twice for Arizona. The Giants have lost 11 of 14. Bumgarner, now in his third season with Arizona after helping the Giants win three World Series championships, allowed three runs in five innings. The 32-year-old lefty struck out four and walked three.
DODGERS 5, ROCKIES 3 Trayce Thompson hit a go-ahead, three-run home run in the fifth inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat Colorado. Mookie Betts added an RBI single with two outs in the inning to help the Dodgers earn their eighth consecutive victory on the Fourth of July. Julio Urias won his fourth consecutive start. He allowed one run on five hits and struck out seven in six innings.
INTERLEAGUE
MARINERS 8, PADRES 2 Rookie Julio Rodriguez hit a monster two-run home run, Cal Raleigh drove in four runs and Chris Flexen was strong for 6 2/3 innings as Seattle beat San Diego. The Mariners won their third consecutive game and for the sixth time in seven games. The Padres lost for the eighth time in 11 games. Flexen and three relievers combined to shut down the Padres, who have scored only 10 runs in their last five games.