HOUSTON -- Having spent the entirety of the weekend securing early-inning leads only to face mounting tension in the latter stages of games, the Houston Astros weren't surprised when the Detroit Tigers clawed back and mustered one final threat trailing by a run in their penultimate at-bat.

But like he did in the series opener, Astros manager A.J. Hinch had his bullpen poised and ready to preserve the slim advantage it was handed.

Jose Altuve provided offense early and often and Houston held off the stubborn Tigers 5-4 in the series finale on Sunday at Minute Maid Park to claim the rubber match of this three-game series.

Houston built a 5-0 lead in support of right-hander Mike Fiers (1-1) before the Tigers (7-4) slugged away at that advantage. But with Detroit trailing 5-4, Astros right-hander Ken Giles worked around an error and an unlucky single to escape the eighth unscathed and deliver the lead to closer Luke Gregerson, who in turn retired Detroit in order to secure his fourth save on the season.

"We had the error and we also had the knuckling line drive up the middle to create a little bit of duress, but I'm very comfortable with the back six-to-nine outs in our bullpen," Hinch said. "I know some of the early numbers are not spectacular yet but over time they're going to be, and we have a really potent bullpen that proved again going through a good lineup that we can get the outs when we need it."

Altuve went 2-for-4 with a first-inning home run that got the Astros (5-8) going plus a two-run single that followed an error by Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera. Altuve has four multi-hit games this season.

Right fielder George Springer added two hits, scoring on a wild pitch following his first-inning single before adding a first-pitch homer to left-center field off Tigers right-hander Anibal Sanchez (2-1) in the third.

Detroit homered twice off Fiers in the fifth, with catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia leading off that frame with his fourth home run before second baseman Ian Kinsler added a two-run blast for his fourth as well. With one out in the sixth, J.D. Martinez added an opposite-field shot to right field, his second home run on the season, cutting the deficit to 5-4.

Fiers rebounded from the Martinez dinger to strike out Nick Castellanos. The Houston bullpen patched together the final 10 outs.

"You never want to lose but they did a nice job getting back in," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "You know with our lineup one run on many days won't be enough, but today it was."

Cabrera was guilty of a throwing error in the fourth that enabled Marwin Gonzalez and Jake Marisnick to move into scoring position in advance of the Altuve two-out hit to left that yielded a 5-0 Astros lead.

"He threw because he saw the chance to get an out," Sanchez said of Cabrera. "He didn't throw just to play around. He thinks if he makes a good throw, he had Gonzalez off the base.

"Everything is changed by results and the next pitch was basically just middle in. I don't blame him or think he was careless or on purpose."

Sanchez allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hits and two walks with eight strikeouts over five innings. Fiers surrendered four runs on seven hits with five strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings but left with the lead.

Lefty Dallas Keuchel did the same on Friday night to similar results.

"The team is playing great," Gregerson said. "We have had a couple losses that have been very close. It's a matter of time before we start breaking through and winning those close ones."

NOTES: The Tigers will face an American League Central opponent for the first time on Tuesday when they travel to Kansas City to face the Royals. Beginning with that series, 12 of the Tigers' next 16 games are against divisional foes. Detroit finished 41-35 against the AL Central in 2015. ... Astros DH Evan Gattis will make his first start at catcher at some point over the next week to 10 days. Gattis has participated in pregame catching drills since his return from injury rehab while also occasionally catching in the bullpen. Gattis did not catch for the Astros last season, his first in Houston. ... Tigers CF Cameron Maybin went 1-for-4 with a double, a walk and two runs scored for Triple-A Toledo on Saturday night while continuing his injury rehab assignment. Over nine games with the Mud Hens and Single-A Lakeland, Maybin is batting .182 (6-for-33) with five doubles, two RBIs and five runs scored. He has been sidelined since March 25 with a left wrist fracture.