Halos top Astros, win first series of the year

ANAHEIM -- Minutes after Saturday's win, Angels manager Mike Scioscia wanted to seize the moment and make sure his team capitalized on its newfound momentum.

And the Angels did exactly that in Sunday's 4-1 victory over the Astros at Angel Stadium. The win marked the first time the Halos have won consecutive games this season, and also provided them with their first series win.

"Anytime you can build momentum, it's good for a club as you start playing better and building confidence," Scioscia said. "I think we need to start playing on our terms. Last night we came back, but this afternoon we got a lead and we held it."

Although a 29-pitch first inning prevented him from going deep in the game, C.J. Wilson earned his first win of the season, limiting the Astros to five hits in six innings, while Mike Trout and Josh Hamilton provided the Angels with their four runs.

Earlier in the homestand, Scioscia shuffled the lineup because he wanted to connect Trout, Albert Pujols and Hamilton. The day after Pujols drove in Trout and Luis Jimenez with a walk-off double, Trout and Hamilton picked up the slack.

After doubling and scoring in the first, Trout struck again in the third with a solo home run to right-center field. It was his first home run of the season. Hamilton added a two-run shot in the eighth.

"Our club, on the offensive side, has a dimension of power that's important to us," Scioscia said. "If you're struggling a little bit, it only takes one mistake to get a run and you saw it this afternoon, and those guys hit the ball out of the park."

Trout, who entered the game with a .245 batting average, went 2-for-3 with a walk and scored three runs. Trout said his four hits in the past two games have simply been the result of more relaxation at the plate.

"Last couple games I've been jumpy, a little anxious," Trout said. "I just told myself to calm down and got a couple of pitches to hit."

While Trout acknowledged feeling more relaxed, Hamilton -- who has now homered in back-to-back games -- does not feel anything has changed in his at-bats.

"I feel the same as I have the last week, I'm just getting hits now," Hamilton said.

Wilson escaped a few jams in his six innings, but was pleased with his ability to escape them and keep his team in the game.

"Just happy to go out there and shut the other team down," Wilson said. "I had a couple innings there with some guys on base, some of that's my fault for getting behind in the count, some of that is circumstance, but I felt like I made some pretty big pitches today."

Astros center fielder Justin Maxwell agreed.

"I think every one of our batters had at least a 3-2 count a one time or another, so we did our job and saw a lot of pitches," Maxwell said. "We just couldn't muster anything off of him."

However, Wilson was not the only Angels pitcher giving the Astros trouble.

Sean Burnett pitched a scoreless seventh, Scott Downs started the eighth and Ernesto Frieri came in to get the final four outs -- all strikeouts -- recording his second save of the season.

After posting a 6.08 ERA in its previous six outings, the Angels' bullpen has pitched 9 2/3 scoreless innings in the last three games.

"On the pitching side, this game evolved the way we needed it to," Scioscia said. "There's no doubt holding leads is critical to our success."