Astros 8, Mariners 3: Colin McHugh won his seventh consecutive decision and Jake Marisnick hit a three-run homer as host Houston won the rubber game of the weekend series.

Alex Presley finished 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs, and Marisnick added two hits as Houston improved to 12-8 in its past 20 contests. McHugh (11-9) gave up three runs on four hits with six strikeouts in six innings.

Seattle starter Hisashi Iwakuma (14-9) lasted only 4 1/3 innings, giving up four runs on six hits with three walks and eight strikeouts. Michael Saunders went 2-for-3 with a two-run homer for Seattle, which has lost six of nine to fall 1 1/2 games behind the final American League wild-card spot.

Iwakuma’s wild pitch in the second scored Marisnick, but the Mariners built a 3-1 lead on a run in the third and Saunders’ two-run shot in the fifth. The Astros answered with three runs in the bottom half, with Jose Altuve’s double to left scoring Jonathan Villar and Presley’s single to center plating Robbie Grossman and Altuve.

Dexter Fowler and Presley singled with one out in the Astros' seventh. After Jason Castro struck out, Marisnick hammered reliever Yoervis Medina's 1-2 pitch over the left-field fence for his third homer of the season and a 7-3 Houston advantage.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Seattle 1B Logan Morrison extended his hitting streak to seven games with a seventh-inning single. … Houston, which finished 51-111 a year ago, is 27-24 in its past 51 games dating back to July 28. … Seattle opens a four-game series at Toronto on Monday before concluding the regular season with three home games against the AL West champion Angels.