Major League Baseball

Weaver, Angels end Astros' 4-game winning string

Published Sep. 15, 2013 5:05 a.m. ET

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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.