Dubón had a game-tying hit, Peña homered and the Astros beat the Blue Jays 5-3 for their 12th win in 14 games

TORONTO (AP) — Mauricio Dubón hit a tiebreaking single in the fifth inning, Jeremy Peña added a solo homer and the Houston Astros beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-3 on Thursday for their 12th victory in 14 games.

“I feel like the team is in a good mood right now,” Peña said. “Everybody is here with a job to do, which is to show up, compete and win the game. I feel like we’re all on the same page.”

Framber Valdez pitched six innings to win his third straight start as the Astros extended their team-record Fourth of July winning streak to seven.

Yordan Alvarez reached base four times and scored a run as Houston won the four-game series 3-1.

“Our goal is to finish the first half of the season strong and play our best,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “I feel like we’re there right now. We came here and we did what we needed to do.”

The Blue Jays have lost 12 of their last 16 games.

“You’ve got to get up and keep going,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “You can’t give up, you can’t give up.”

Peña went 2 for 4 with a walk and scored twice. He extended Houston’s lead with a solo home run off Trevor Richards in the seventh inning, his seventh of the season. Peña also hit a home run in the series opener Monday.

Valdez (7-5) allowed three runs and nine hits. He walked two and struck out four.

“He didn’t start the way he wanted to, but he settled in really well,” Espada said.

Tayler Scott pitched the seventh, Ryan Pressley worked the eighth and Josh Hader finished for his 14th save in 15 chances.

Both teams scored three runs in a first inning that produced eight hits and two walks.

Yainer Diaz opened the scoring with a bases-loaded groundout and Jon Singleton followed with a two-run single off Toronto right-hander Chris Bassitt.

Toronto responded with five hits against Valdez in the bottom half of the inning. Two runs were scored on a bases-loaded single by Spencer Horwitz and Alejandro Kirk added an RBI double.

Peña singled with one out in the fifth, advanced on a groundout and scored on Dubón’s single to center field.

Bassitt (7-7) allowed four runs and eight hits in five innings to lose for the first time since May 17 to Tampa Bay.

The Blue Jays used a walk and an infield single to put two runners on base in the bottom of the fifth, but Astros third baseman Alex Bregman started an inning-ending double play on Danny Jansen’s groundout.

Houston turned five double plays Thursday. Bregman was involved in three of them, including an unassisted double play to end the first in which he caught Ernie Clement’s ball and tagged Horwitz.

“I’ve been playing with him since 2022 and every day on defense he seems to impress me,” Peña said of Bregman. “He makes plays I don’t see people make.”

Toronto put the tying run on third base with one out in the sixth inning, but Valdez finished his outing by getting Kirk and Clement to ground out.

The Blue Jays intentionally walked Alvarez to load the bases with two outs in the fourth inning. Diaz was tagged out to end the inning.

“I’m telling you, it’s tough to throw him a ball right now,” Espada said of Alvarez. “I don’t blame Schneider for intentionally walking him. Right now, he’s on fire.”

Alvarez was hit by pitches in the sixth and ninth innings.

LIST EVOLUTION

Blue Jays: Jansen was activated from the paternity list and catcher Brian Serven was sent to Triple-A Buffalo.

TRAINERS’ ROOM

Blue Jays: Shortstop Bo Bichette was scratched with a right forearm contusion. The two-time American League leading hitter was struck out three times on a pitch that hit his arm Wednesday.

FOLLOWING

Astros: Espada said right-handed reliever Shawn Dubin will start Friday’s game against Minnesota. Right-handed reliever Pablo López (8-6, 4.88 ERA) is slated for the Twins.

Blue Jays: Right-handed pitcher Kevin Gausman (6-7, 4.75 ERA) is scheduled to start Friday against Mariners right-hander Luis Castillo (6-9, 3.87 ERA) in the opener of a three-game series in Seattle.

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AP Major League Baseball: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb