In dramatic fashion, the Los Angeles Angels used a late burst to take down the Houston Astros, 4-1, on Saturday night at Daikin Park. The Halos improved to 63-72, bouncing back from a shutout loss in the opening game of the series.

Both lineups struggled to produce through the majority of the contest, plating just one run each through the first eight innings. The Angels found their score through Zack Neto’s 24th home run of the season in the top of the third, while the Astros evened the score in the bottom of the frame on an RBI single from Jesus Sanchez.

The real fireworks, however, came as a 1-1 game entered the ninth. Needing a breakthrough, Los Angeles got to work quickly. After Jo Adell struck out to open the frame, three consecutive singles from Luis Rengifo, Logan O’Hoppe and Matthew Lugo loaded the bases. 

Up to the plate stepped Oswald Peraza, appearing in his first game since Wednesday’s 20-3 loss against the Texas Rangers. He came through in a big way, launching a ball down the right field line that Cam Smith could not make a play on as it scored two.

It was Peraza’s biggest moment of the season as he earned just his 14th and 15th RBIs of the year. The 25-year-old tallied his first hit since August 17, and only his third since being acquired by the Angels.

Three batters later, Mike Trout drew a bases-loaded walk to force in another run and make it 4-1. Trout finished the day 0-4 with a pair of strikeouts, but put together an important at-bat against Houston right-hander Bryan Abreu to provide some more insurance.

In the bottom of the ninth, Kenley Jansen worked around a leadoff walk to secure his 24th save, doing so with some help from Jo Adell in center field. With two out, Cam Smith sent a ball deep to center field, allowing Adell to make a leaping catch to secure the final out and the victory.

Jansen has now converted each of his last nine save opportunities and 24 of 25 on the season. With his next strikeout, he will tie Craig Kimbrel (1,270) for the fourth-most career strikeouts as a reliever in MLB history. 

Kyle Hendricks, who made his 26th start of the season on Saturday, did a great job setting the tone in what was ultimately a pitcher’s duel. The right-hander danced around seven hits, allowing just one run through six innings. 

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He reached six innings and allowed one run or less in a start for the first time since July 27, using 83 pitches and striking out two batters. It was a big performance for the 35-year-old to help the Angels cut the deficit in the season series against the Astros to 5-3. 

Reid Detmers and Jose Fermin each followed Hendricks with a scoreless frame out of the bullpen as Fermin walked away with the victory, improving to 3-2 in 2025. Los Angeles will look to replicate the same pitching success in the series finale in the third game of the series on Sunday morning.

Right-hander Jose Soriano (9-9, 3.85 ERA) will take the mound for the Angels, dueling against a tough counterpart in Astros’ ace Hunter Brown (10-6, 2.37 ERA). Brown allowed one run across five innings in his only prior start against the Halos this season.

First pitch is scheduled for 11:10 a.m. PT.