TORONTO -- The battery of left-hander Francisco Liriano and catcher Russell Martin acted as spark plugs for the Toronto Blue Jays against the Houston Astros on Thursday night.

Martin had three hits, including a home run, and Liriano pitched into the seventh inning, boosting the Blue Jays to a 7-4 victory.

The Blue Jays (40-45) have won three in a row, while the Astros (58-28) had their four-game winning streak halted.

"We pitched very well and shut down a great hitting team, a hot-hitting team," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "The last three games that we've won, we've played some pretty good baseball, we'll see where it takes us."

Liriano (5-4) allowed nine hits, one walk and three runs while striking out four in six-plus innings.

"Everything went well, the offense was there today and we played great defense," Liriano said. "They have a great lineup. But you've got to stay positive, we played well. It's very important for us to keep that going, to finish very strong in the first half."

Roberto Osuna pitched a perfect ninth to earn his 22nd save of the season and the 21st in a row.

Marwin Gonzalez homered for the Astros in the second inning and was ejected in the sixth inning after striking out.

Houston's Carlos Beltran hit his 11th homer of the season to lead off the eighth against Ryan Tepera.

Astros starter Lance McCullers Jr. (7-2) allowed six runs (five earned), nine hits and two walks while striking out three in 4 1/3 innings.

"Everyone's allowed a bad day at work," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. "He didn't have a horrible day. Obviously, it didn't end well for him and they piled together a couple of hits. Hung a couple of breaking balls and they put together a good plan against him.

"I think he, uncharacteristically, didn't have his stuff. I don't think his breaking ball was as good as it usually is. His command, I think he had a little trouble with the mound. Just finding his rhythm, finding his release point."

"We were facing one of the top pitchers in the game," Gibbons said. "We battled him, we had him on the ropes early (bases loaded with one out in the first) and he got out of it. I thought we kind of kept the pressure on."

Martin hit his ninth homer of the season to greet the third Astros pitcher, Dayan Diaz, in the sixth inning. The blast increased Toronto's lead to 7-2.

Tepera replaced Liriano after Alex Bregman led off the seventh with a double, his third hit and second double of the game. Tepera struck out his first two batters before Jose Altuve broke his bat on an RBI single.

Gonzalez led off the second with his 15th homer of the season, a drive to left on a 3-1 two-seam fastball for a 1-0 lead.

The Blue Jays tied the game in the fourth on a two-out RBI single by Steve Pearce. It scored Kendrys Morales, who reached first base on an error by third baseman Bregman, took second on a wild pitch, and moved to third on Troy Tulowitzki's groundout to shortstop.

Houston regained the lead in the fifth on an RBI single by Altuve that followed a leadoff double by Bregman and a one-out single by George Springer.

The Blue Jays scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 6-2 lead.

Josh Donaldson ended an 0-for-15 slump with a two-run single. It scored Jose Bautista, who led off the inning with a single, and Martin, who followed with a single. A passed ball put runners at second and third for Donaldson.

Donaldson scored on a one-out double by Morales. Tulowitzki snapped an 0-for-22 drought with runners in scoring position with an RBI single.

"I just didn't execute that inning," McCullers said. "I wanted to throw a purpose pitch and left it over the plate and up where (Bautista) got a hit. The inning kind of snowballed from there. ... I had a chance there with Morales up, with two strikes, to keep the damage as minimal as I could and I couldn't do it."

Michael Feliz replaced McCullers and walked Pearce. Feliz was charged with a throwing error on an attempted force out at second on Kevin Pillar's comebacker to the mound, loading the bases.

Ryan Goins hit an RBI double to center.

NOTES: Astros SS Carlos Correa (left thumb) returned to the lineup Thursday after sitting out the game Wednesday in Atlanta after jamming his thumb on a slide Tuesday. He singled in the first inning Thursday to extend his hit streak to a career-best 14 games, and he finished 1-for-4. ... Astros OF George Springer has 25 homers, the third most by a Houston player before the All-Star break. 1B Lance Berkman set the franchise mark in 2002 with 29. 1B Jeff Bagwell was the other. ... Toronto RHP Aaron Sanchez (0-1, 3.33 ERA), who has been on the disabled list with a split finger nail on his right middle finger, will make his first start since May 19 when he faces Houston RHP Charlie Morton (5-3, 4.06) on Friday. Morton, who has been out due to a right lat strain, will make his first start since May 24.