Feldman, Astros can't halt Angels' win streak

ANAHEIM -- Scott Feldman didn't have his A game going Saturday night, but if not for Mike Trout, it might well have worked.

Trout hit a pair of home runs off Feldman to power the Angels to their season-best 10th consecutive victory, 5-2, at Angel Stadium.

"He [Feldman] made pretty good pitches, they weren't just balls down the middle," interim manager Tom Lawless said of the MVP candidate's homers. "That's why he [Trout] is the best player in the league.

"I thought Scott did well. I don't know if he had his best stuff, but he competed, and kept us in the game."

Trout's 33rd and 34th homers aside, Feldman (8-11) went six innings, and helped the Astros stop the Angels' club-record-tying streak of scoring seven runs or more at eight games. And, when he exited, it was with a 2-1 deficit.

The way Jered Weaver (17-8) pitched for the Angels, that didn't matter. The right-hander struck out a season-high 12 in seven innings, becoming the American League's first 17-game winner this season.

"They [pitches to Trout] were not exactly where I wanted them to be," Feldman said, "but give him credit. He got me a couple of times, and it turned out to be enough, the way Weaver was pitching.

"It seemed like he was on his game all night. He's a guy I really respect. He's a great competitor, and a really good pitcher.

"I probably didn't feel as good as I did the past few games, but you're not always going to feel great out there," Feldman said. "I felt I was battling."

The Angels, who have won 16 of 18 with the only losses coming to the Astros in Houston, added three runs against the bullpen in the seventh. Lawless opted to intetionally walk Trout (who had also doubled off Feldman) with runners at first and second with one out. But reliever Jose Vargas walked Albert Pujols to make it 3-1, and the Angels tacked on two more before second baseman Jose Altuve ended the rally by catching a low line drive.

"Pick your poison," Lawless said, of the decision to walk Trout, and pitch to Pujols. "If he [Trout] didn't have two homers, and a double off the wall, tonight, maybe not walk him."

Altuve had two more hits, including an RBI double off Angels reliever Kevin Jepsen in the eighth. Altuve has 204 hits with 14 games remaining, and he's chasing Craig Biggio's Astros single-season record of 210, set in 1998.

"The pressure comes off, and he [Altuve] just keeps on rolling," said Lawless, who before that game said that there was much more self-induced pressure on Altuve to get 200 hits than to get 211.

Chris Carter extended his career-best hitting streak to 11 games, but Weaver struck out the Astros DH twice with runners in scoring position to end the third and sixth innings. Robbie Grossman's two-out RBI single in the third accounted for the first Astros run.

"He was throwing everything he had for strikes, and it seemed like he had a little extra on his fastball tonight," Astros right fielder Jake Marisnick said of Weaver.

"Tonight, his stuff was exceptional," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "I don't think I've seen Weave throw like this for five years."