HOUSTON -- With the Angels desperately needing a big hit to avoid a four-game sweep against the rival Astros, it was two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani who came to the rescue in the eighth inning.

Ohtani ripped a go-ahead RBI double off reliever Phil Maton to help the Angels to a much-needed 2-1 win over the Astros in the series finale on Sunday at Minute Maid Park. The Halos had dropped the previous three games in the series and were 1-5 against Houston, but they now have some peace of mind thanks to a strong pitching performance from right-hander Griffin Canning and Ohtani’s clutch hit.

The Angels were able to salvage a 3-4 road trip against the White Sox and Astros, and manager Phil Nevin said he believes the win can help bridge the gap between his club and the Astros. Los Angeles is now five games back of second-place Houston in the American League West.

“We’re close,” Nevin said. “Those guys have been places we haven't, and it's where we want to go. That’s a good team over there. It's nice to get a win on the way out of here.”

The Angels had been searching for a big hit all series, as they entered the game hitting just .176 (6-for-34) with runners in scoring position through the first three games. They were also held to no hits through the first 5 1/3 innings by Astros right-hander J.P. France until Luis Rengifo launched a solo homer with one out in the sixth.

But Ohtani came through in a big way, and it came with two outs. It almost didn’t happen, however, as Ohtani thought he had walked on a 3-1 curveball on the outer half of the plate, but home-plate umpire Bruce Dreckman ruled it a strike. Ohtani came back to the plate and made Maton pay for throwing a 3-2 curveball in the bottom part of the zone.

“I know it wasn’t a hit with runners in scoring position, but it was close,” Nevin said jokingly. “But we were running on the pitch, so really, a hit to anywhere where the outfielder had to go to his side would score him. But just a really good at-bat, understanding what Maton is trying to do. He’s one of the toughest guys on left-handers in all of baseball.”

Zach Neto was running on the pitch, and Ohtani hit it off the right-field wall, allowing Neto to easily score the go-ahead run. It was another impressive showing from Ohtani, who also went 4-for-5 on Saturday, falling just a homer short of the cycle. But the Angels are going to give him some extra rest on the mound, pushing his start back a day to Friday against the Mariners to take advantage of Monday’s off-day.

“His stuff is still pretty crisp,” Nevin said. “Moreso as I start going through this, we're looking at over 200 innings for the first time in his career. He’s approaching places he hasn't been before. So I just felt like it was good to give him an extra day now.”

The late rally wouldn’t have been possible, however, without Canning continuing to turn it around after struggling a bit early in the season in his return after missing last year with a stress fracture in his lower back. Canning went six innings, allowing one run on four hits and one walk with four strikeouts.

Canning didn’t factor into the decision, but he has posted a 2.59 ERA over his past four starts to lower his season ERA to 4.47 in nine starts. The lone run he allowed came on a solo homer from Yainer Diaz in the sixth on a first-pitch fastball several inches above the zone.

“After those three games, you want to put a stop to things,” Canning said. “But I was just on a really good page with [Matt] Thaiss behind the plate. And we got some timely hitting, and the bullpen came in and shut it down.”

As Canning noted, the bullpen combination of Chris Devenski (1 2/3 scoreless innings) and closer Carlos Estévez (1 1/3 shutout frames) shut the door on the Astros to avoid the dreaded four-game sweep.

“It feels really good,” said Estévez, who picked up his 14th save in 14 opportunities. “We grinded through this game and we came on top, and everyone did what they had to do. It feels good to get a good team win like this. We wanted to show them we were good enough. Let’s clean it up and whatever happened the last few days, let’s turn the page and get going.”