Weaver, Angels end Astros' 4-game win streak

HOUSTON (AP) -- Without his top assortment of pitches, Jered Weaver still wound up in a familiar spot -- the win column.

Weaver pitched six solid innings, Chris
Iannetta homered and the Los Angeles Angels stopped Houston's four-game
winning streak, beating the Astros 6-2 Saturday night.

Weaver (10-8) joined Nolan Ryan as the only Angels pitchers to reach double-digits in wins for eight straight seasons.

"It speaks volumes to the quality of
pitcher that Weaver is. He's one of the top pitchers in our league,"
Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "Even when he doesn't have his best
stuff he gives us chances to win. He competes with anyone."

Ryan won at least 10 games from 1972-79.
Chuck Finley also reached 10 wins in eight seasons for the Angels,
although not consecutively.

"I'm not really a guy who reflects on
personal stuff. I'm all for winning a championship as opposed to getting
excited about getting eight consecutive seasons with 10 wins," Weaver
said. "But it's cool milestone."

"I've been pretty fortunate to play on
some good teams throughout my career," he said. "A lot of guys had my
back. When you are on some good teams and you throw the ball well,
you're going to get some wins."

Brett Wallace homered for Houston, which
leads the majors with 97 losses. The Astros had their first four-game
winning string since mid-June.

The Astros, in their first season in the
AL, set a league record for strikeouts at 1,393, surpassing Oakland's
1,387 last year.

"That's one of their better pitchers,"
Astros manager Bo Porter said of Weaver. "I know he spent some time on
the DL and it just so happened that with all the times that we've faced
them we hadn't seen him."

Rookie Brett Oberholtzer (4-3) allowed
four runs and six hits in six innings. The 24-year-old lefty entered the
game with a 1.91 ERA since July 31, best in the AL over that span.

Weaver allowed two runs on six hits, including Wallace's 13th homer in the fourth. He struck out five and walked one.

Weaver also moved into sole possession
of fourth place on the Angels' strikeout list, fanning Marc Krauss to
end the sixth for his 1,234th strikeout, one more than Frank Tanana. He
trails Ryan (2,416), Finley (2,151) and Mike Witt (1,283).

Relievers Michael Kohn, Dane De La Rosa and Juan Gutierrez each pitched a scoreless inning for the Angels.

Iannetta gave the Angels the lead in
the third inning with his 11th home run. Howie Kendrick, Kole Calhoun
and Iannetta each drove in a run in the fourth to give Los Angeles a 4-0
lead.

Wallace hit a two-run homer in the fourth.

The Astros loaded the bases in the
fifth on consecutive two-out singles by Marwin Gonzalez, Jonathan Villar
and Jose Altuve, but Weaver escaped the jam by striking out Trevor
Crowe.

Grant Green scored from third on a
passed ball in the Angels seventh. He tripled in the ninth and scored on
J.B. Shuck's sacrifice fly.

NOTES:
Astros All-Star C Jason Castro (right knee) remained out of the lineup
as doctors want to give him a few more days to see how responds to
treatment, Porter said. Castro injured his knee Sept. 2. He has missed
eight of 11 games since. ... The Astros showed the first half of the
Alabama-Texas A&M college football showdown on the big screen during
batting practice at the request of Porter. ... The Astros inducted
columnist and former Dodgers, Colt .45s/Astros and Rangers broadcaster
Rene Cardenas into its media wall of honor. Cardenas began his
broadcasting career with the Dodgers in 1958, becoming one of the first
members of a Spanish-language radio broadcast team in the majors and
later was part of the first Spanish-language radio crew to call a World
Series in 1959.