Houston Astros’ Christian Vázquez, left, celebrates with Cam Smith in the dugout after hitting a home run against the Los Angeles Angels during the third inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Houston Astros’ Christian Vázquez (2) and Cam Smith celebrate after a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Houston Astros’ Jose Altuve (27) and Cam Smith (11) celebrate after a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Houston Astros pitcher Josh Hader throws against the Los Angeles Angels during the ninth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Houston Astros starting pitcher Ethan Pecko walks toward the dugout before a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Houston Astros starting pitcher Ethan Pecko throws against the Los Angeles Angels during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Houston Astros starting pitcher Ethan Pecko throws against the Los Angeles Angels during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Houston Astros starting pitcher Ethan Pecko throws against the Los Angeles Angels during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Houston Astros starting pitcher Ethan Pecko throws against the Los Angeles Angels during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Houston Astros first baseman Christian Walker tries to field a single by Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña catches a fly ball by Los Angeles Angels’ Nolan Schanuel during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Houston Astros manager Joe Espada, left, argues with first base umpire Lance Barrett (16) during the third inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Houston Astros manager Joe Espada, left, argues with first base umpire Lance Barrett (16) during the third inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Houston Astros’ Christian Vázquez celebrates after hitting a home run against the Los Angeles Angels during the third inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Houston Astros’ Jose Altuve hits a RBI double against the Los Angeles Angels during the fourth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Houston Astros’ Jose Altuve runs up the first base line after hitting a RBI double against the Los Angeles Angels during the fourth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Houston Astros’ Isaac Paredes, right, scores as Los Angeles Angels catcher Moisés Ballesteros stands at home plate during the fourth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve (27) catches the throw from catcher Christian Vázquez before tagging out Los Angeles Angels’ Josh Lowe as he tries to steal second base during the sixth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
After giving a starter making his major-league debut two turns through the Angels’ order, the Houston Astros turned to their bullpen in the fourth inning Wednesday. Their most reliable unit took over from there.
Five relievers combined to work 5⅓ scoreless innings and a scuffling offense did just enough for the Astros to claim a 3-2 win, end a three-game losing streak and even a three-game series at Daikin Park. With a Rangers loss, the Astros stretched their American League West lead back to two games.
An opponent with the majors’ second-worst record has made this series uncomfortable. A night after being held to three hits in a defeat, the Astros totaled five and saw shortstop and leadoff man Jeremy Peña exit with a hand contusion after being hit by a 100 mph sinker from the Angels’ Walbert Ureña.
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Los Angeles
AB
R
H
BI
BB
SO
Avg.
Totals
31
2
5
2
5
11
Meckler lf
3
0
0
0
0
0
.286
b-Siri ph-lf
2
0
0
0
0
1
.257
Trout cf
3
0
1
0
0
1
.240
Schanuel 1b
4
0
0
0
0
1
.278
Neto ss
4
0
1
0
0
0
.224
Ballesteros c
3
0
0
0
1
1
.204
Grissom dh
3
1
0
0
1
3
.244
Lowe rf
2
1
2
0
1
0
.209
c-d’Arnaud ph
0
0
0
0
1
0
.188
1-Frazier pr
0
0
0
0
0
0
.235
Guzman 3b
4
0
1
2
0
2
.233
Peraza 2b
3
0
0
0
1
2
.226
Houston
AB
R
H
BI
BB
SO
Avg.
Totals
28
3
5
3
2
12
Peña ss
1
0
0
0
0
1
.283
a-Allen ph-ss
3
0
0
0
0
3
.252
Alvarez dh
4
1
1
0
0
1
.317
Paredes 3b
3
1
1
0
1
0
.260
Altuve 2b
4
0
1
1
0
1
.246
Wade lf
3
0
1
0
0
1
.226
Varsho cf
0
0
0
0
0
0
.228
Smith rf
2
0
0
1
0
2
.222
Walker 1b
3
0
0
0
0
1
.230
Trammell cf-lf
3
0
0
0
0
1
.215
Vázquez c
2
1
1
1
1
1
.219
Los Angeles
000
200
000_2
5
0
Houston
001
200
00x_3
5
1
a-struck out for Peña in the 3rd. b-struck out for Meckler in the 7th. c-walked for Lowe in the 9th.
1-ran for d’Arnaud in the 9th.
E_Vázquez (1). LOB_Los Angeles 8, Houston 4. 2B_Guzman (6), Altuve (16). HR_Vázquez (7), off Ureña. RBIs_Guzman 2 (20), Vázquez (25), Altuve (37), Smith (47). SB_Frazier (2). CS_Lowe (1). SF_Smith.
Runners left in scoring position_Los Angeles 4 (Siri, Ballesteros, Meckler, Peraza); Houston 2 (Walker 2). RISP_Los Angeles 1 for 8; Houston 1 for 5.
Runners moved up_Peraza.
DP_Houston 1 (Vázquez, Altuve, Vázquez).
Los Angeles
IP
H
R
ER
BB
SO
NP
ERA
Ureña, L, 8-9
5
3
3
3
2
7
94
2.80
Fulmer
1
2
0
0
0
3
22
0.00
Saucedo
1
1-3
0
0
0
0
2
25
5.79
Murphy
2-3
0
0
0
0
0
6
2.08
Houston
IP
H
R
ER
BB
SO
NP
ERA
Pecko
3
2-3
3
2
2
3
4
89
4.91
Sousa, W, 1-1
1
1-3
1
0
0
0
1
18
3.52
Blubaugh, H, 7
1
1
0
0
0
2
12
3.35
Okert, H, 18
1
0
0
0
1
2
20
2.01
Abreu, H, 9
1
0
0
0
0
2
14
4.30
Hader, S, 18-18
1
0
0
0
1
0
19
0.87
Inherited runners-scored_Sousa 1-0. HBP_Pecko (Trout). WP_Ureña.
ABS Challenge_Ballesteros (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Allen (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Allen (Strike-Confirmed); Grissom (Strike-Confirmed); Fulmer (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Paredes (Strike-Overturned to Ball).
Ejected_Espada.
Umpires_Home, Mike Estabrook; First, Lance Barrett; Second, Malachi Moore; Third, Alfonso Marquez.
T_2:54. A_21,162 (41,000).
Christian Vázquez struck a solo home run against Ureña, Jose Altuve had an RBI double and Cam Smith contributed a sacrifice fly that broke a 2-2 tie in the fourth inning. That proved the decisive run.
The Angels took a 2-0 lead in the fourth against Ethan Pecko, the right-hander called up Wednesday to make his debut for Houston. Pecko exited with two outs in the inning, his pitch count inflated, handing the ball to an Astros bullpen that entered with the majors’ third-lowest ERA since June 1.
Bennett Sousa stranded a runner inherited from Pecko and recorded four outs. AJ Blubaugh worked a scoreless sixth, with Vázquez throwing out Josh Lowe stealing second base to complete a double play. Steven Okert navigated a leadoff walk, his first walk issued since June 27, in a scoreless seventh.
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Bryan Abreu struck out two batters in a clean eighth. Josh Hader also worked around a leadoff walk in the ninth to record his 18th save in as many chances, retiring Jose Siri on a flyout to deep center for the final out. Five relievers combined to allow two hits, walk two batters and strike out seven.
How Ethan Pecko fared in debut
Pecko, the 23-year-old right-hander called up from Triple-A Sugar Land to make his major-league debut, faced the Angels’ lineup twice. He got through 3⅔ innings, throwing 89 pitches, while appearing to battle his command, especially on his four-seam fastball. Still, Pecko limited the damage against him to two runs in his first outing for Houston.
“A little sloppy, but I felt like I battled,” Pecko said. “I didn’t have any expectations, I just wanted to throw well, throw strikes. Command wasn’t there. It’s been a little bit since I threw. But overall, I’m happy with it and I think there’s a lot I can work on.”
The Astros made Pecko the latest line of reinforcement for a rotation their front office did not fortify at the trade deadline. The 2023 sixth-round draft pick is the 17th different pitcher to start a game this season for a Houston team that entered Wednesday with the majors’ third-highest rotation ERA. His presence reflects its search for solutions.
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Pecko has averaged three walks per nine innings over his last two minor-league season, suggesting his command Wednesday was atypical. He located 31% of his pitches in-zone, including seven of 29 four-seam fastballs he threw, per Statcast. The Angels did chase at a 36% clip and whiff on 11 of 39 swings against him. Pecko threw 49 of 89 pitches for strikes.
“He looked very calm,” said Vázquez. “Very competitive pitches. Only the fastball was missing up. The curveball was very good, the sinker to righties. It was a lot of takes on sinkers, so it was good.”
Pecko navigated a seeing-eye single by Mike Trout in an 18-pitch first inning, inducing two pop-ups. He touched 95.9 mph in the first, his top velocity on the night. He needed 31 pitches to work the second, walking two batters but striking out three. Pecko struck out Vaughn Grissom swinging at a sweeper for his first major-league strikeout.
Pecko began the fourth at 62 pitches and hit a snag. Grissom worked a one-out walk. Josh Lowe flared a single to center field. Denzer Guzman then drove a full-count sweeper to left field, where a fan sitting in the front row of the Crawford Boxes reached over, caught the ball and brought it into the seats.
Umpires conferred and ruled the play a double with fan interference. Since both runners were moving on the pitch, however, umpires ruled that both scored. Pecko faced one more batter, striking out ninth hitter Oswald Peraza. He finished with three walks, four strikeouts and three hits allowed.
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Astros counter Walbert Ureña
Ureña had two previous starts against the Astros this season. In them, he allowed one run over 11 total innings. The hard-throwing sinkerballer held Houston to five hits and struck out 12 in those starts. That made Wednesday a relative breakthrough.
The Astros managed just three hits against Ureña, who struck out seven, but scratched across three runs and chased him after five innings at 94 pitches. Ureña owns a 2.80 ERA on the season.
Ureña retired his first eight batters in order. Five struck out. Just one hit a ball out of the infield. Vázquez, starting at catcher to help Pecko through his debut, turned on a first-pitch 98.4 mph sinker with two outs in the third inning and lined his seventh home run into the Crawford Boxes.
“It’s his best pitch,” Vázquez said. “Power pitcher, good velo, good sinker, so I was looking for it.”
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Houston manufactured two more runs in the fourth. Yordan Alvarez struck a leadoff single. Isaac Paredes worked a walk. Altuve pulled a changeup into the left-field corner, scoring Alvarez and moving Paredes to third. Smith skied a sacrifice fly that forged a 3-2 lead. Ureña allowed nothing further.
Astros manager Joe Espada ejected
Astros manager Joe Espada was ejected in the top of the third inning for arguing a non-check swing call.
Mike Trout was hit by a sinker from Pecko on his left hand. First base umpire Lance Barrett ruled on an appeal that Trout had checked his swing. Espada apparently took exception from the dugout. Barrett signaled for a stop, then ejected Espada, who came out to argue.
In the first inning, Peña was hit on the right hand by a 100 mph sinker from Ureña. In a two-strike count, home plate umpire Mike Estabrook ruled that Peña had swung, resulting in a strikeout. Espada said that he disputed the difference in how the calls were handled.
“Tomorrow I will probably apologize to Lance,” Espada said. “I looked at the replay, (Trout) did not swing. But for me it was Mike did not check Peña’s, and once Trout gets hit he immediately goes to Lance for the call. So I’m like, if you’re going to make the call, might as well just check both. So I did not like that aspect of things. So I went out there and pled my case.”
It was the second ejection this season for Espada. He was also ejected on Aug. 5 for arguing an out call at second base that was upheld upon review.
Jeremy Peña exits with hand contusion
Peña initially remained in the game after being hit on the hand, playing defense in the second and third innings. However, he was replaced by pinch-hitter Nick Allen in the bottom of the third.
The Astros announced Peña was removed from the game with a “right hand contusion.” Espada said that Peña was hit near the middle knuckle on his right hand and underwent X-rays that came back negative.
“Pretty sore,” Espada said of Peña. “Going to see how he feels tomorrow.”
Houston’s shortstop and leadoff hitter, Peña entered Wednesday hitting .098 over his last 12 games but still had a 127 OPS-plus in 78 games, second-highest among Astros hitters behind Yordan Alvarez.