HOUSTON— Jose Altuve made his final case for an All-Star starting spot on Wednesday night, and it was a memorable one.

Altuve went 3-for-3 with an RBI and a stolen base while scoring the decisive run on a bang-bang play at the plate as the Astros swept the Royals with a 6-5 win at Minute Maid Park.

Altuve beat out a throw home from third baseman Mike Moustakas on Chris Carter’s fielder’s choice in the seventh inning off reliever Kelvin Herrera, sliding around catcher Salvador Perez’s swift tag. Altuve also completed an early three-run comeback with a game-tying RBI single in the fifth.

“I knew it was a close play,” Altuve said. “With those plays, you never know if you are safe or not. But I was hoping to be safe because I know our bullpen is really good and I think that run will be enough to win the game.”

Jarrod Dyson’s two-run triple knotted the game at 5 in the top of the seventh as the Royals squandered an early 3-0 lead after a two-run homer by Kendrys Morales in the first and an RBI single by Alex Rios in the second.

Carter and Marwin Gonzalez hit solo homers off Royals starter Edinson Volquez, who was rock solid before the four-run fifth inning. He got a no-decision after lasting five innings and allowing five runs on eight hits.

“It just got away from him [in the fifth], he got some pitches up, especially his curveball,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “He pitched really good up until then.”

Volquez’s counterpart, Vincent Velasquez, lasted 6 1/3 innings while striking out seven and allowing four runs in a fifth straight no-decision.

“We hung in there, we battled back against one of the premier bullpens in the league to scratch out a run without hitting the ball out of the infield,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said.