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ANAHEIM, Calif. -- David Freese is starting to pick up his run production, which is something the Los Angeles Angels have been waiting half a season to see. Freese hit a two-run double, Matt Shoemaker pitched in and out of trouble for six innings, and the Angels beat the Houston Astros 5-2 Thursday night in the opener of a four-game series. Freese has six RBIs in his last five games, two more than he had in the previous 27 games in which he had an at-bat. "Weve been talking about David for a while, and we need him," said manager Mike Scioscia, who has kept Freese in the bottom third of the batting order since June 17. "Hes a guy that potentially deepens the middle of your lineup. He hasnt gotten off to a good start, and were at the halfway point. "Hopefully hes finding a comfort level. I think the last 30 or so at-bats hes been driving the ball a little bit better." Shoemaker (6-2) allowed two runs, seven hits and three walks, and worked with runners on base in every inning. The right-hander, who began the season in the bullpen, gave up eight runs and 11 hits in four innings on Friday in a loss at Kansas City. He had been 5-0 with a 3.00 ERA in his seven previous starts this season. "It was a successful outing, but a little bit of a struggle," Shoemaker said. "I had to make some big pitches to get out of some jams, and the defence picked me up huge, making some big plays. It was a positive thing to bounce back from that outing to this one." Shoemaker had seven strikeouts against the Astros, giving him 57 through his first 10 big league starts. That broke the franchise record of 56 set by Bo Belinsky in 1962. "He has it in his game, thats for sure," Scioscia said. "If you look at his career in the minor leagues, he has struck out his share of guys. But you never know how a guys stuff is going to play in the major leagues until he gets an opportunity. "Shoe definitely has some out pitches and some pitches that he can get strikeouts with. But the best games hes going to throw are going to be the ones where hes in the zone early with good stuff and changing speeds and maybe getting some easier outs. He had to work hard to get through six innings." Jason Grilli, obtained from Pittsburgh on Friday, pitched a scoreless eighth in his home debut, and Joe Smith worked a hitless ninth for his 10th save. The Angels have won seven straight at home, their longest streak since another seven-game stretch in August 2006. Brett Oberholtzer (2-7) gave up five runs, nine hits and three walks over 6 1-3 innings in his third start since getting recalled from Triple-A on June 28. He was 0-6 with a 5.68 ERA in his first seven starts before back-to-back victories over Seattle and Baltimore. After the game, he was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Oberholtzer was bailed out by inning-ending double plays in the second and third innings, after giving up Howie Kendricks RBI single in the first. Mike Trout was doubled off second base in the third after rookie left fielder Enrique Hernandez made a diving catch of Albert Pujols sinking liner, but the Angels scored four runs in the fourth to grab a 5-2 lead. C.J. Cron tied it with an RBI single, and Freese doubled to right-centre, the fourth straight one-out hit. Freese scored on Chris Iannettas sac fly. Houston took a 2-1 lead in the third. Jose Altuve doubled after a leadoff walk to No. 9 hitter Marwin Gonzalez, Jason Castro singled off the glove of first baseman Pujols to drive in the Astros first run, and Altuve scored on a grounder by Springer. Shoemaker retired Dominguez on a double-play grounder after a walk to Singleton. "Its just tough, not scoring runs when you have situations with men on base early in the game where you can jump on a team," designated hitter Chris Carter said. "Were in a little rough patch now, but I think well be better the rest of the series." Altuve, who had three hits, leads the AL in batting (.347) and stolen bases (37). The only players who finished a season atop the league in both categories were Ty Cobb (1909, 1911 and 1917), George Sisler (1922), Snuffy Stirnweiss (1945) and Ichiro Suzuki (2001). "Hes definitely a phenomenal hitter and hes tough to get out, so you have to mess up his timing and make good pitches," Shoemaker said. NOTES: Scioscia earned his 1,281st regular-season victory, tying Whitey Herzog for 34th place on baseballs career list. Scioscia reached the mark in 57 fewer games. ... RHP Josh Fields will be reinstated from the disabled list on Friday to fill Oberholtzers roster spot. ... It was the 44th anniversary of the first no-hitter at the "Big A," thrown by Clyde Wright against Oakland. ... The Astros are tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the majors worst record (36-51). ... Houston is 0 for 44 when trailing after eight innings. ... 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Brian Propp Jersey .Y. -- That hangover from the Big East tournament is gone for Villanova.Pittsburgh, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - Sidney Crosby had four assists and the Pittsburgh Penguins extended their home winning streak over the Tampa Bay Lightning to nine games with a 6-3 victory on Friday night. Steve Downie returned to score twice for Pittsburgh after missing the last five games because of the mumps and Evgeni Malkin, Chris Kunitz, Andrew Ebbett and Christian Ehrhoff also found the net in the teams second consecutive win after four straight losses. Thomas Greiss also played for the first time since contracting the mumps last month and made 32 saves. Brian Boyle, Victor Hedman and Alex Killorn scored for Tampa Bay, which had a four-game winning streak snapped. Pittsburgh moved ahead of Tampa Bay for first place in the Eastern Conference with 53 points. Montreal tied the Lightning for first place in the Atlantic with a win over New Jersey on Friday. The Lightning have been outscored 48-19 while losing all nine games they have played at Consol Energy Center, which opened in 2010. Their last win in Pittsburgh came March 31, 2010. It was an interesting day for the Penguins, who dealt forward Rob Klinkhammer and a 2015 first-round draft pick to Edmonton for forward David Perron. Pittsburgh coach Mike Johnston confirmed that Malkin and teammate Craig Adams were involved in a scrap during practice earlier Friday in which punches were thrown. Small fight, but nothing bad, Malkin said after the game. We talked after practice. Much of the game was played with three officials after referee Mike Leggo vomited on the ice during the first period and skated off with what the NHL said was an illness. Play was stopped for several minutes while the ice was cleaned. The Penguins took a 3-0 lead after just 13:39 to chase Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop, who faced just 10 shots. Evgeni Nabokov gave up two goals on 18 shots after that. But Pittsburgh later had to fight off two Tampa Bay rallies to secure the win. Tampa Bay ddefenseman Anton Stralman was sent off for tripping just 1:36 into the first period and Pittsburgh scored 20 seconds later when Kunitz buried a rebound behind Bishop from beside the net as he was being shoved to the ice.dddddddddddd Five minutes later, the horn sounded prematurely after Malkin clanked a shot off the goal post. Amid the distraction, Ebbett flipped a backhand over Bishops glove for his first goal since March 14, 2013, with Vancouver. Bishop was pulled after letting a rebound trickle off his pads to the other side of the crease, where Malkin hammered it in to make it 3-0. Later, Boyle got Tampa Bay on the board with 4:49 left in the first, scoring from in front of the crease after Ondrej Palat used his skate to stop Matthew Carles sharp pass from behind the net. Hedman pulled the Lightning within 3-2 at 12:48 of the second period, but Ehrhoff restored Pittsburghs two-goal advantage just over four minutes later on a slap shot from the point. Killorns goal 11:18 into the third period again brought the Lightning within one after he fought off defenseman Simon Despres down the right side and took the puck across the crease to beat a sprawled Greiss. But Downie countered for Pittsburgh just 34 seconds later, waiting out Victor Hedman as the defenseman went to the ice to stop a potential shot, then firing a wrister past Nabokov from the left circle. Downie cored his second goal into an empty net in the final seconds. It was the third game between the teams in 19 days. The Penguins earned a 4-2 win in Pittsburgh on Dec. 15 and the Lightning carried a 4-3 decision in Tampa Bay on Dec. 23, snapping a 10-game losing streak in the series. They will not face each other again this season. Game Notes Ebbett recorded two points on his 32nd birthday ... The Lightning continue a four-game road trip on Sunday in Ottawa ... The Penguins continue a four-game homestand on Saturday against Montreal. ' ' '