HOUSTON (Interstat) — Zach Neto went 5-for-6 with a home run and seven RBIs, Grayson Rodriguez pitched seven shutout innings and the Los Angeles Angels routed the Houston Astros 18-3 on Thursday night at Daikin Park.

The Angels, who have lost 77 games this season, came out swinging against Houston starter Peter Lambert. After Wade Meckler singled to lead off the game and stole second, Neto delivered an RBI single to right field for a 1-0 lead. The Angels could not add on as Neto was caught stealing to end the inning.

Houston answered quickly in the bottom of the first. LaMonte Wade Jr. walked and Yordan Alvarez walked before Isaac Paredes singled to load the bases. Jose Altuve then reached on a fielder’s choice, scoring Wade, and a throwing error by third baseman Vaughn Grissom allowed Alvarez to score, giving the Astros a 2-1 edge. Houston threatened for more with two on and one out, but Daulton Varsho flied out, Taylor Trammell struck out and Cam Smith grounded out to end the inning.

The Angels took control in the second. Moisés Ballesteros doubled to right, and Grissom singled him home to tie the game. Josh Lowe singled to put runners on the corners, and Tyler Heineman’s sacrifice bunt scored Grissom, giving the Angels a 3-2 lead. Adam Frazier then reached on a fielder’s choice that scored Lowe, and the Angels pushed the lead to 4-2 before Mike Trout struck out and Nolan Schanuel lined out.

Rodriguez settled in after the first inning. He worked around a leadoff single in the second by inducing a double play from Christian Vázquez. Houston put a runner on second in the third when Alvarez doubled, but Rodriguez retired Paredes, Altuve and Varsho in order to keep the lead.

The Angels broke the game open with a six-run fourth. Josh Lowe singled, and Heineman sacrificed him to second. Frazier doubled to center to score Lowe, and Meckler walked. Trout also walked after a successful challenge, loading the bases. Schanuel popped out, but Neto singled to left to drive in Frazier, with Meckler and Trout also advancing. Ballesteros then singled to left, scoring Meckler and Trout and moving Neto to third. Grissom doubled to left, driving in Neto and Ballesteros, and the Angels led 10-2. Lowe grounded out to end the inning.

Houston went down in order in the fourth. Cam Smith struck out, Nick Allen grounded out and Vázquez grounded out, as Rodriguez maintained his shutout after the first-inning unearned runs.

The Angels added four more runs in the fifth. Heineman singled, Frazier singled and Meckler was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Trout lined out, but Schanuel grounded into a force out that scored Heineman and kept the bases loaded with one out. Neto then homered to center, a three-run shot that scored Frazier and Schanuel, extending the lead to 14-2. Ballesteros struck out to end the inning.

Houston put two runners on in the bottom of the fifth on singles by Vázquez and Yainer Diaz, but Isaac Paredes grounded into a double play, and the inning ended with no damage.

The Angels added two runs in the seventh. Frazier grounded out, but Jose Siri walked and Trout walked. Denzer Guzman struck out, but Neto doubled to center, scoring Siri and Trout, making it 16-2. Ballesteros struck out to end the inning.

Blake Weiman took over for Rodriguez in the eighth and worked around a double by Paredes, leaving him stranded when Raynel Delgado struck out. The Angels tacked on two more in the ninth. Oswald Peraza doubled to left, and Guzman homered to left, his sixth of the season, to stretch the lead to 18-2. Neto singled later in the inning, but the Angels could not add more.

Houston scored once in the ninth. Varsho doubled to right, Taylor Trammell grounded out to advance him to third, and Cam Smith hit a sacrifice fly to center to bring Varsho home. Nick Allen singled, but Vázquez struck out to end the game.

Rodriguez improved to 4-5 on the season, allowing five hits and striking out six over seven innings. He did not allow an earned run, as both Houston runs in the first were unearned due to the error. Weiman pitched the final two innings, allowing three hits and one earned run while striking out three. Lambert fell to 8-7 for the Astros, who have lost three of their last four games. Tatsuya Imai pitched three scoreless innings of relief for Houston, allowing two hits and striking out three.

Neto’s seven RBIs came on a single in the first, a single in the fourth, a three-run homer in the fifth, a two-run double in the seventh and a single in the ninth. Grissom finished 3-for-6 with three RBIs, Frazier was 2-for-5 with two RBIs, Ballesteros went 2-for-6 with two RBIs and Guzman drove in two with his home run. The Angels finished with 18 hits, while the Astros managed eight.

The Angels made two sacrifice hits, and Houston grounded into two double plays. The game drew an attendance of 20,934 and lasted 2 hours, 53 minutes.

With the victory, the Angels improved to 51-77, while Houston dropped to 65-64. The teams split the first two games of the three-game series, with the Astros winning 3-2 on Wednesday and the Angels taking the opener 3-1 on Tuesday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Los Angeles Angels 4 and Houston Astros 3, while Interstat’s ELO system gave Houston a 64.30 percent probability to win. Houston was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5, and the combined total of 21 runs went under the over/under line of 8.5.