Astros lose home series to Angels, head west to face A's

The Houston Astros are closer to where they began ahead of this week's home series against the Los Angeles Angels.

While there was hope the surging the Astros (22-28) could take advantage of the lowly Angels (20-30) in a three-game series at Minute Maid Park, it was the California team that won two out of three.

After splitting the first two games of the series, the Angels won Wednesday afternoon's rubber match 2-1. Hunter Brown, at least, was solid on the mound for Houston. He gave up two runs on two hits, including a homer, in six innings.

The Astros sit 5.5 games behind the Seattle Mariners (27-22) in the American League West standings. They are 4.5 games out of the Wild Card.

The Astros are off Thursday, then take on the Oakland Athletics (20-30) for three games over the weekend before a four-game series visiting the division-leading Mariners.