HOUSTON ¨C After blowing a five-run lead, Houston fought for its season-high third straight win Tuesday night and arguably, its biggest victory this season.

Victor Caratini hit a two-run homer to right in the 10th to send the Astros to a come-from-behind 10-9 win over Cleveland at Minute Maid Park.

¡°Us creating that big lead and having the bullpen available to close that lead, and the fact that we couldn¡¯t get it done, but us staying in the fight and winning in extra innings, that¡¯s a big win,¡± Houston manager Joe Espada said.

After the Guardians took the lead on a David Fry RBI double in the top of the 10th, Caratini sent a 1-0 pitch from Hunter Gaddis to right field for the win.

Caratini said through an interpreter he was just trying to have a good at-bat.

¡°I knew I hit it hard, and it was a line drive,¡± he said. ¡°It got out.¡±

It was Houston¡¯s first walk-off win of the season and Caratini¡¯s third career walk-off homer.

¡°Gaddis is tough on righties, and again Caritini comes off the bench and I just feel like he¡¯s going to get the barrel on the ball, and he did,¡± Espada said. ¡°I was hoping to keep the inning alive, and he walked us off.¡±

Caratini, whom the Astros signed in the offseason, has played well so far this season. He has batted .314 with two home runs and eight RBIs as a backup catcher.

¡°Offensively, he¡¯s just got a short, simple swing,¡± Espada said. ¡°He¡¯s got a good game plan. He always puts good swings on the ball from the left side. That¡¯s aside from leadership and his ability to receive games, call games. He¡¯s just been a nice addition to our club.¡±

Caratini was just happy to get the win.

¡°Very happy for the whole team,¡± he said. ¡°We were having a great game. The most important thing was the victory, and we were able to get the victory today.¡±

Josh Hader threw two innings in relief to get his first win as an Astro. He hadn¡¯t thrown more than an inning since Aug. 14, 2020, when he was with Milwaukee.

Espada said he hoped not to have to use Hader for more than an inning often.

¡°That¡¯s something that I don¡¯t really like doing,¡± Espada said. ¡°When I went up to him, he said ¡®Yes, I want it.¡¯ That shows how important us getting on a hot streak is.¡±

For the third straight game, the Astros offense scored at least eight runs.

Alex Bregman hit a three-run homer in the third, his first of the season.

¡°I feel great,¡± Bregman said. ¡°Just working on some things in the cage mechanically. I feel good. Just missed a homer the first at-bat. Hit one the second at-bat. Just missed a few right after that.¡±

Joey Loperfido, who was making his Major League debut, hit a two-run single and Jon Singleton had a three-run homer as part of a five-run fourth as the Astros took an 8-3 lead.

¡°I hit it and kind of saw the outfielder coming up on it and was like ¡®Fall, fall, fall.¡¯ After that, just such a good feeling,¡± Loperfido, who finished 1-for-5, said of his first hit and RBIs.

Loperfido said the nerves didn¡¯t hit him too hard the first at bat.

¡°Walking up that first at-bat and hearing my walkup song, I tried to be locked in, but it was a special moment,¡± he said. ¡°After that first at-bat, I locked in and was comfortable. After that first fly ball [he caught] in left, nerves went away after that.¡±

The Astros are 10-19, but with three straight wins, they are fighting back into the hunt.

¡°It¡¯s no secret what we¡¯re going through right now,¡± Caratini said. ¡°We all have trust in each other. We all know we have a really good team. It¡¯s still early in the season. Everyone is working to push the team forward.¡±

Espada and the Astros did all they needed to win Tuesday night and keep the momentum going.

¡°It¡¯s just more of we wanted to continue the momentum we created in Mexico,¡± Espada said. ¡°Not so much the record, but we¡¯re playing well, and we see that we are turning the corner in many areas of our game. I felt like we needed to use all our bullets to win this game.¡±