Tyler Anderson leads Angels to series victory in Houston

HOUSTON — When Tyler Anderson looked at his performance last year, it wasn’t merely the runs he allowed that frustrated him.

It was the innings he pitched. Or lack thereof.

“I felt like last year I would go four or five innings every start,” Anderson said, “and I took that personal.”

It’s been a dramatic reversal this season. With eight innings in the Angels’ 2-1 victory over the Houston Astros on Wednesday afternoon, Anderson has pitched at least seven innings in half of his 10 starts.

The first Angels starter to work eight innings this season, Anderson cut his ERA to 2.52.

The Angels needed all that he gave them in this game, because the bullpen was tapped from two recent extra-inning games, and the offense provided little margin for error, managing only two runs on Kyren Paris’ first career homer.

“It all started with T.A.,” Manager Ron Washington said. “He’s showing what it’s about to lead. … I can’t say enough of what he did and what he’s been doing and what he has done in the past. So it’s very important for our young pitchers to see what it’s like to go out there and leave everything you have on the field. He did that for us today. And got us an opportunity to get a win.”

The victory lifted the Angels (20-30) to a second straight series win on the trip to play the Texas Rangers and Astros.

The Angels, however, are coming home with one issue threatening to disturb all the good feelings.

Shortstop Zach Neto came out of the game in the fifth inning with a sore right elbow. Neto said he felt something on a relay to the plate, and then later in the inning he made a high throw to first. That let him know that something was sufficiently wrong for him to come out of the game.

Neto said he had elbow issues when he was young, but it hasn’t been a problem for years.

“There’s a little concern,” Neto said, “but I trust what the training staff has for me. They say it’s not too concerning.”

Neto is expected to undergo some tests before the Angels return to action on Friday at home.

His absence would be a blow to the Angels’ defense, and he’s also been hitting better over the past few weeks.

The Angels’ offense has been hot and cold recently, and on Wednesday all the hitters could muster was Paris’ blast.

The 22-year-old infielder smoked a drive off the billboards above the fence in right-center. It left the bat at 106.9 mph.

“Wow, what a home run,” Washington said. “The kid has that in him. He’s young. He’s still learning. Once he realizes what he can do, he’s gonna be a good baseball player. And right now he’s in the right place to learn how to play the game, with the L.A. Angels.”

Paris hit 14 homers last season in Double-A, but it took him 79 major-league plate appearances to get one.

“It was amazing,” he said. “It was a special moment, to be able to put the team on top and lead to a win and a series victory.”

After the homer, it was mostly up to Anderson to get the Angels this victory.

He needed just 95 pitches to maneuver the Astros’ dangerous lineup, striking out four and walking two.

Anderson gave up just one hit and one walk in 12 plate appearances against José Altuve, Kyle Tucker, Yordan Alvarez and Alex Bregman. The hit was an Alvarez double in the first inning that could have been caught by left fielder Taylor Ward.

“Those guys gave me fits in the past,” Anderson said. “Today I just went out and attacked. No matter what, don’t give in on any pitch, especially to those top three, four guys.”

In the eighth, just after Anderson walked Tucker to put the tying run on base, Washington came to the mound.

“He yelled at me before I even crossed the line, ‘I got this,’” Washington recalled.

Anderson got Alvarez on a grounder – a nice play by second baseman Luis Guillorme – and Bregman hit a line drive to left field.

Washington then handed the ball to right-hander Luis Garcia in the ninth. Even though this was the fourth game in five days for Garcia, Washington said he hadn’t throw that many pitches so he felt he was his freshest option to close the game.

Garcia worked a perfect inning, with two strikeouts, to send the Angels to their fifth victory in the last seven games. Both of the losses have come in extra innings.

“When you go out there and you treat the game, right, good things start to happen,” Washington said. “And I never doubted that my young squad was going to start putting it together. They’re starting to put it together and starting to believe. I liked the way they’ve been playing baseball in the past eight or nine games.”