HOUSTON — The last time the Angels won their first two games of a season, Mike Trout was a sophomore in high school.

Thanks to another Trout homer – along with homers from Josh Lowe and Zach Neto – the Angels reached that “milestone” on Friday night, beating the Houston Astros for the second game in a row, 6-2.

A 2-0 record doesn’t seem like much, but it’s been elusive for the Angels lately. They had only won their opener once in the previous 12 seasons before Thursday’s victory, and the last time they won their first two games was 2007.

The 2007 Angels won 94 games and the American League West title.

No one is going to crown them with anything for winning two games in the first series of the year, but Trout’s start has nonetheless provided some hope that maybe this year will be the end of their streak of 10 consecutive losing seasons.

Besides his line drive over the left field fence in the fifth inning, Trout reached on a bloop single and a ground ball that got through the infield. He also walked.

Trout is 4 for 6 with two homers and four walks in his first 10 plate appearances of the season.

Like Trout, Lowe is trying to rediscover himself after a couple of years of injuries with the Tampa Bay Rays.

He put the Angels ahead for good in the second inning, when he lofted a three-run homer into the Crawford Boxes. Lowe also pulled a double down the right field line in the fourth inning.

Lowe missed much of spring training because of oblique tightness on his left side. Oblique issues on the other side derailed his last two seasons after his 2023 breakout.

Trout’s homer put the Angels ahead 5-1. Despite the cushion, starter Yusei Kikuchi couldn’t get through five innings to qualify for the victory.

Kikuchi gave up two runs in 4⅓ innings, throwing 86 pitches.

One of Kikuchi’s problems last season was that he was inefficient with his pitches even when he was pitching well, which prevented him from getting deep in games.

This time he only walked one. He threw 62% of his pitches for strikes, but he wasn’t fooling the Astros. They hit balls hard all night. The Angels’ defense had to make a few spectacular plays to keep them from doing more damage.

In the second inning alone, Angels infielders Yoán Moncada, Neto and Oswald Peraza all robbed the Astros of hits.

Finally, after Yordan Alvarez blasted a homer and José Altuve singled in the fifth, Manager Kurt Suzuki turned the game over to the bullpen for the final 14 outs.

Chase Silseth picked up the final two outs in the fifth. Ryan Zeferjahn then retired all six hitters he faced in the sixth and seventh, including the top of the Houston order.

Sam Bachman struck out three and walked two in a scoreless eighth.

Neto’s first homer of the season gave the Angels some insurance in the top of the ninth, and then Jordan Romano closed it out.

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