ARLINGTON -- A disheartening sweep at home at the hands of the Yankees prompted some Astros veterans to speak up in a team meeting Sunday for at least the second time this season. Houston needed to snap out of its funk quickly, considering it had to travel to meet the Rangers for a Labor Day matinee to start the biggest series of the season.

The Astros’ offensive malaise traveled with them from Minute Maid Park through the first four innings of Monday afternoon’s game at Globe Life Field before they erupted. Houston walloped five homers in the final four innings -- with Mauricio Dubón and Jose Altuve going back to back twice -- to crush the Rangers, 13-6, and snap a three-game losing streak.

• Games remaining: at TEX (2), vs. SD (3), vs. OAK (3), at KC (3), vs. BAL (3), vs. KC (3), at SEA (3), at AZ (3).

• Standings update: The Astros (78-61) moved into a virtual first-place tie with the Mariners (77-60), who lost to the Reds on Monday. The Astros now own the tiebreaker over the Rangers (76-61), but the Mariners hold the tiebreaker over the Astros. That means Houston needs to finish one game ahead of Seattle to win the division, and Texas would need to finish one game ahead of Houston.

“Obviously, we needed a game like this and a win, because we’re coming from home and got swept by the Yankees," said Altuve, who tied his career high with four hits, including his 11th and 12th homers. "And to start over and be able to win this game and create some momentum for tomorrow is real important."

The Astros won the season series from the Rangers for the seventh year in a row. Houston is 77-39 against its Lone Star State rivals since 2017.

“Obviously, both of us, we’re fighting for playoff positioning, to make the playoffs in a tough division race,” third baseman Alex Bregman said. “I thought it was a good way to start the series. I thought the guys showed up ready to compete today. They had every excuse to not show up ready to go with the late travel day. Guys showed a lot of energy, a lot of hard work prior to the game and a lot of guts to go down early and come back.”

Dubón and Altuve hit consecutive homers in the sixth and ninth innings, marking the first time a nine-hole hitter (Dubón) and leadoff hitter (Altuve) went back to back twice in a game, according to OptaSTATs. The only other time in Astros history the same players hit back-to-back homers twice was when Craig Biggio and Lance Berkman did it on July 25, 2005, against the Phillies.

“It’s actually because me and Jose talked yesterday, and I told him we’re going to go back to back, and we ended up doing it twice,” said Dubón, who recorded his first career multihomer game. “Pretty crazy.”

The biggest swing of the game, though, came from rookie catcher Yainer Diaz, who blasted a Statcast-projected 453-foot three-run home run to cap a six-run seventh inning that allowed Houston to take an 11-5 lead. Diaz has 21 homers in 337 plate appearances this year.

“After yesterday’s game, the veterans stood up and talked and said how bad series are going to happen, but there’s baseball to play and to stay positive every series, every game,” Diaz said.

Astros starter J.P. France allowed three homers, including two to Corey Seager, through five-plus innings as Texas built leads of 3-0 and 4-3, before Houston’s offense came to life. Bregman (4-for-4) had a two-run single in the fifth, and Dubón and Altuve hit the first of their back-to-back homers in the sixth to put Houston ahead, 5-4.

“It was mostly the Seager show, but we came back and had some big offensive days out of guys,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “You’re playing these guys, and the way that ball is flying in this ballpark, you’ve got to get all you can. The guys did a good job today.”

Facing Rangers reliever Josh Sborz in the seventh, Houston sent 10 batters to the plate and scored six times to break it open. Seager’s bases-loaded fielding error on a ball hit by Chas McCormick allowed two runs to score ahead of Diaz’s homer.

“What can I say, I went up there just trying to make good contact,” Diaz said. “I really wasn’t looking for a homer, even though the ball was flying. I went up and tried to get a good swing off and got the result.”