A new city brought the same struggles for Yusei Kikuchi, who faltered again on the road as the Angels fell 8-3 to the Houston Astros in Monday’s series finale at Daikin Park. The Halos finished with a split of the four-game set, falling to 64-73 as they trail Houston 6-4 in the season series.

The left-hander fell to 6-10 this season after being tagged for five runs and eight hits across 5 2/3 innings of work. On the road, he his now a brutal 1-8 with an ERA of 5.45 across 15 appearances.

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Ramon Urias got the scoring started for Houston in the second, launching a solo home run deep to left. Urias has been known to hit Kikuchi for power, with four of his six hits against him being home runs.

Jose Altuve, who had the biggest day at the plate for the Astros, added another run in the third on a double that scored Jeremy Peña. The troubles continued in the fourth, after a double from Yainer Diaz and a single from Cam Smith produced the third Houston run of the afternoon.

Kikuchi went on to allow runs in each of the next two frames as well, eventually being pulled with two outs in the fifth after a single from Smith. The 34-year-old has not reached six innings in a road start since May 12, and worked through 5 2/3 innings away from home since July 12 before Monday.

Los Angeles did their best to fight back in the early innings, even reclaiming a lead for Kikuchi after falling behind 2-0 through the opening three innings. Zach Neto led off the fourth with a solo home run, which he lasered into the Crawford Boxes for number 25 this season against Astros’ right-hander Luis Garcia.

Neto is now just one stolen base away from becoming the sixth player in franchise history with 25 or more home runs and stolen bases in a season. He would join a list that includes Bobby Bonds, Don Baylor, Darin Erstad, Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. Things continue to go right for the 24-year-old, whose nine home runs in August set a new career-high for a single month.

Jo Adell kept the momentum rolling, launching a two-run shot just three batters later to put the Angels in front 3-2. It was number 31 for Adell, putting him back ahead of Taylor Ward for the club lead this year.

That would, however, conclude the scoring on the day for Los Angeles as Houston reclaimed the lead against Kikuchi and continued to add on against the bullpen. The Astros added on three more insurance runs in the eighth against Brock Burke, with the biggest blow coming on a two-run shot from Jose Altuve to make it 8-3.

Craig Kimbrel stepped on in the ninth to get the final three outs, and the Angels officially finished the first stop of their seven-game road trip at 2-2. The team will hope for the best regarding the status of Taylor Ward, who exited Sunday’s contest following a scary collision with the scoreboard in left field.

Ward received about 20 stitches over his eyebrow as a result, but is remaining with the team and hopes to return to the lineup following a couple days of rest. He was cleared of a concussion.

The Angels will now head to Kansas City as they begin a three-game series with the Royals on Tuesday afternoon. While no starting pitcher has been chosen yet, it is likely to be one of either José Ureña or Mitch Farris. Kansas City will send out right-hander Michael Lorenzen (5-8, 4.62 ERA) to make his 22nd start.

First pitch is scheduled for 4:40 p.m. PT.