HOUSTON _ Shohei Ohtani celebrated his 25th birthday with a home run off Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander as the Angels clubbed a quartet of homers in a 5-4 victory.
The trio of Ohtani, Kole Calhoun and Andrelton Simmons all dinged Verlander, who might start the All-Star game for the American League on Tuesday. Mike Trout added a solo shot in the eighth inning off reliever Hector Rondon. The Angels hung on after Cam Bedrosian yielded a two-run blast to the Astros' Yuli Gurriel in the bottom of the eighth.
After a clean opening inning from Noe Ramirez, manager Brad Ausmus handed the baseball to Felix Pena for the second. He dumped the Angels into a hole on his third pitch. It was a change-up that floated over the center of the plate, and Houston's Michael Brantley ripped the baseball over the right-field fence for a solo shot.
Pena (6-2) settled down and allowed no further damage across four innings. The Angels jolted Verlander (10-4) in response in the third. A one-out single by outfielder David Fletcher set the table for Calhoun, who hammered a first-pitch fastball into the right-field seats to put the Angels ahead. The lead was extended two batters later.
Ohtani had struck out in his first at-bat, waving at an 0-2 curveball that dove beyond his reach. He had better luck his second time up. Ohtani crushed a 95-mph fastball to center for his 13th home run of the season.
The Astros shaved a run off the lead in the fourth, conjuring a rally with doubles from Brantley and rookie Yadier Alvarez. Simmons answered in the sixth. Verlander hung a slider. Simmons hooked into the welcoming porch of the Crawford Boxes in left to push the lead back to two.
