HOUSTON -- The goal for Tony Kemp was to get on base and to try to spark a rally. The last thing he could have imagined was sparking a celebration at home plate.

Kemp turned on a 2-1 sinker from Indians reliever Adam Cimber and sent it 360 feet down the right-field line for a pinch-hit, walk-off homer to lead off the 10th inning and send the Astros to a 4-3 win over the Indians on Saturday afternoon at Minute Maid Park.

¡°I was looking for a walk there, but I¡¯ll take a home run,¡± said Kemp, who slugged the first pinch-hit walk-off homer by an Astros player since Brian Bogusevic beat the Cubs with a grand slam on Aug. 16, 2011.

¡°He gets frustrated with himself when he doesn¡¯t get on base, but who needs a walk when you can hit a homer?¡± Astros manager AJ Hinch said. ¡°What a huge time to do it.¡±

Kemp was told when Astros reliever Roberto Osuna, who threw two innings for the win, was heading back out for the 10th inning of a 3-3 game, that he was going to pinch-hit for Max Stassi to start the bottom of the inning. Cimber, a right-handed sidearmer, presented a tough matchup, and Kemp was the only left-handed hitter still on the Astros¡¯ bench.

¡°I went down [in the tunnel] and saw some video on him and just tried to see his release point,¡± Kemp said. ¡°After he got to 2-1 and had missed with a backdoor slider, I was looking for a heater right there and just trying to put it in play and it went over the fence.¡±

The homer snapped the Astros¡¯ two-game losing streak against the Indians and broke Kemp¡¯s 0-for-12 slump. His batting average had dipped to .143 before he connected in the 10th.

¡°This is a game of failure,¡± he said. ¡°They don¡¯t call it a game of success. You¡¯re going to go through times like this, you¡¯re going to hit the ball hard right at people and sometimes the things you¡¯re going through doesn¡¯t show in the boxscore. But mentally, you've just got to keep grinding each day, and we have a good core group of guys here that battle their butts off each day. It¡¯s cool to be a part of this team.¡±

The personable Kemp is one of the most popular players in the clubhouse. Led by Carlos Correa, who hit a two-run, go-ahead homer in the sixth, Kemp¡¯s teammates mobbed him at home plate at the end of his trot.

¡°I think that¡¯s the first [walk-off home run] of my career, even Minors or Major Leagues,¡± Kemp said. ¡°To be greeted by Correa right there up front means a lot. He had a big game. To get the win and have a chance to split the series tomorrow is big for us.¡±

Kemp¡¯s opportunities to play have been inconsistent -- he¡¯s started 10 of Houston¡¯s first 27 games -- but he understands that the role of primary bench players demands readiness.

¡°We know we could be called on at any time to pinch-run or pinch-hit,¡± he said. ¡°This is a great team and we try to contribute any way we can, and I helped out today.¡±