HOUSTON (AP) — Mike Trout homered to launch what he hopes will be a bounce-back year, leading the Los Angeles Angels to a season-opening 3-0 win over the Houston Astros on Thursday.
Trout also walked three times and played center field for the first time since April 2024. The three-time MVP played 130 games last season, his most since 2019 because of various injuries.
Making his franchise-record 14th opening day start, the 34-year-old Trout broke a scoreless tie in the seventh inning when he sent a 96 mph fastball from reliever AJ Blubaugh (0-1) 403 feet onto the train tracks in left-center. It was his fifth opening day homer, also a club record.
The Angels snapped an eight-game road losing streak in season openers, starting 1-0 on the road for the first time since 2013.
Oswald Peraza hit an RBI single in the eighth and Nolan Schanuel homered in the ninth.
José Soriano (1-0) allowed two hits and four walks in six innings while striking out seven. Four relievers completed the three-hitter, with Jordan Romano working the ninth to earn the save in his Angels debut.
Hunter Brown started for Houston and allowed four hits and four walks in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out nine.
The Astros went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position while stranding nine runners.
Houston designated hitter Yordan Alvarez may have been robbed of a home run in the first inning because the retractable roof at Daikin Park was closed. Alvarez hit a towering shot toward the right field foul pole, but it ricocheted off a horizontal rafter and landed in foul territory.
It was ruled a foul ball. The Astros challenged, and the call was upheld after a review. Alvarez later struck out swinging.
The teams resume the four-game series on Friday, with lefty Yusei Kikuchi starting for Los Angeles opposite right-hander Mike Burrows.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
Love & Hope & Magic: The Making of Jinx, the Musical,” is a documentary chronicling … Read morePremiere of Love & Hope & Magic: The Making of Jinx, The Musical
San Francisco Symphony players get together in an intimate setting of the Gradus Ad Parnassu… Read moreSoirée Française: Our Favorite Violin Sonatas
Planning your dream wedding? Discover everything you need at the Wedding Fair in the Park – … Read moreWedding Fair in the Park
“Side-splittingly funny and brilliantly chaotic” Read moreThe Play That Goes Wrong
Providing Feedback said:
guestd1f05c09006f503bea99796c said:
Dirk van Ulden said:
Connie Weiss said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.