ARLINGTON, Texas -- It wasn't easy but the Houston Astros finally beat the Texas Rangers.

George Springer led off the game with a homer and collected two RBIs as the Astros posted a 7-6 victory to salvage the finale of a three-game series against Texas.

The win was just the third for Houston in 16 matchups against Texas this year. Texas, which saw its seven-game winning streak snapped, still has a 9 1/2-game lead in the American League West.

The Astros won by jumping out to a 5-0 lead off Texas starter Yu Darvish (5-4) and then hanging on as the Rangers had the tying run at the plate in the ninth inning.

"That was a big win for us on a lot of levels," Houston manager A.J. Hinch said. "No. 1, to jump out ahead on Darvish. The way we played we had to hold them off. We had to tack on some runs first, and then hold them off.

"It's a good feeling getting on the plane, obviously, to salvage a game. You can't control the first two games after they're over, so all we could do was try to win today."

Houston tagged Darvish for a season-high five earned runs on seven hits and chased him after just four innings.

Springer's leadoff homer was followed by a bloop single from Yuli Gurriel that put Houston up 2-0. The Astros pushed the lead to 5-0 in the fourth inning on an RBI from Jake Marisnick, Springer and Alex Bregman.

Despite an ugly outing that ended his streak of quality starts at eight, Darvish didn't think he pitched that poorly.

"I felt very good going into the game," he said. "I think I was feeling well so I have to tip the hats to their offense today. Command-wise, I didn't feel as bad as I did the last time I struggled. The bloopers, the ground ball found a way. We put the shift on and it went through it. It's just one of those things. I didn't think I was that bad."

The 5-0 lead wasn't enough to get Houston starter Collin McHugh a win, though. Houston led 6-2 after Evan Gattis' solo homer in the top of the fifth but the Rangers got three runs back in the bottom of the frame on RBI doubles from Ian Desmond and Carlos Beltran along with a run-scoring single from Rougned Odor.

Right-hander Chris Devinski (3-4) settled things down by striking out three and allowing just one hit in his 1 2/3 innings. McHugh was touched for five runs on seven hits in his 4 1/3 innings. Houston got scoreless innings out of Will Harris and Luke Gregerson before Ken Giles notched his eighth save.

Houston pushed the lead to 7-5 in the sixth on an RBI grounder from Jose Altuve.

Texas got a leadoff triple in ninth off Giles and an RBI grounder from Adrian Beltre with one out. Giles then struck out Odor. Texas still finished with an 8-2 homestand despite going just 2-for-10 with runners in scoring positon Sunday.

"Even today, we felt like we had opportunities, just didn't cash in," Texas manager Jeff Banister said. "Even there in the end, get the tying run to the plate against their closer, who has been extremely efficient here lately and pretty dominating. I mean that is, in my opinion, what we needed to do before we go out on this 10-day road trip."

The Astros finished with 11 hits, as Bregman matched his career high with three hits. Springer finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored.

Bregman knew the key for Houston Sunday was jumping on Darvish early.

"It's huge," he said. "The game plan today was executed. We put together quality at-bats up in the lineup. Jake (Marisnick) came through with a huge double. Got him out of the game and got into their bullpen and fortunate enough to come out of here with a win. We're going to try to build off that in Cleveland."

Odor got the Rangers on the board with his 29th homer in the fourth inning. He had three hits and three RBI. Desmond had a double, triple and RBI for Texas.

NOTES: The Rangers added another arm to the bullpen by recalling RHP Jose Leclerc from Triple-A Round Rock. ... Texas bench coach Steve Buechele left the club Sunday to go to Austin to watch the University of Texas football game. His son, Shane, is a freshman quarterback. ... Jose Altuve returned to the Astros' lineup after pulling up in the ninth inning with a cramp in his right calf. ... Houston LHP Dallas Keuchel threw Sunday and is still slated to start Tuesday at Cleveland. The Astros are waiting to see how he feels Monday to determine if he has to be pushed back again. Keuchel has been batting fatigue and general soreness.