Mike Trout Hits Another Home Run, Leading Angels to Victory Against Astros
HOUSTON — The Los Angeles Angels secured a 6-2 victory over the Houston Astros on Friday night, buoyed by home runs from Mike Trout, Josh Lowe, and Zach Neto.
In his second game with the team, Lowe broke a 1-1 tie in the second inning, launching a three-run homer off Astros pitcher Mike Burrows. The Angels acquired him in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays on January 16.
Trout contributed significantly, hitting a solo homer in the fifth inning and notching three hits overall. This marks the first time in Trout’s 16-year major league career that he has homered in both of his first two games of a season. Neto added a solo blast to lead off the ninth inning, marking his second extra-base hit of the night.
The Angels’ pitching staff, led by Yusei Kikuchi, performed well, with Kikuchi allowing two runs on eight hits over 4⅓ innings. The bullpen trio of Chase Silseth, Ryan Zeferjahn (1-0), Sam Bachman, and Jordan Romano combined to deliver 4⅔ scoreless innings to preserve the lead.
Burrows (0-1), making his debut for the Astros after being traded from the Pittsburgh Pirates on December 19, gave up five runs on nine hits across 5⅔ innings, while striking out six batters.
Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez hit a home run, and Carlos Correa had a solid performance, going two for three with a walk.
Jeremy Peña, who missed Thursday’s season opener, contributed with two hits, a stolen base, and a run scored.
The Angels’ 2-0 start is their best since 2007, while the Astros find themselves at 0-2, marking the second time in three seasons under manager Joe Espada that they have started the year with consecutive losses.
The series continues on Saturday as Astros pitcher Cristian Javier faces Angels left-hander Reid Detmers.
