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ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Mike Trout keeps padding his stats with 1 1/2 weeks to go until the All-Star break. He homered leading off the ninth inning after the Los Angeles Angels twice rallied to tie the game, giving them a 7-6 victory over the Houston Astros on Friday night. Trout sent an 0-2 pitch from Tony Sipp over the wall in left centre field and charged into a celebratory mob at home plate. Teammate Erick Aybar doused Trout with a blue sports drink, staining his white uniform, and fans chanted "MVP! MVP!" "The adrenaline rush you get when it goes out, its something special. Its always good to come up big," Trout said. "What a comeback. We were up three, they came back and scored five, and we just kept fighting." It was Trouts second career walkoff hit, both of them homers. The American League player of the month for June hit his team-leading 20th homer, and has eight homers in his last 18 games. Trout became the eighth Angels player with 20 or more homers and at least 60 RBIs before the All-Star break, and the first since Vladimir Guerrero in 2004. "Its one of those things where you see the pitch and see the swing, and you say to yourself, Theres not many players in our game that can do what he did with that pitch," Astros manager Bo Porter said. Trout figures to start in centre field in the All-Star game on July 15 in Minneapolis. Joe Smith (3-0) got the victory for the Angels, who have won eight in a row at home for the first time since Sept. 16-24, 2005, and have the majors best record at home. Los Angeles has won 11 of 14 overall. Sipp (1-1) took the loss for the Astros, who dropped their fifth in a row. "I went at him with my best stuff," Sipp said about Trout. "But even when you make a good pitch sometimes, a guy of that calibre will put a good swing on it." Houstons Jose Altuve, who came in leading the AL in hits, stolen bases and batting average, went 0 for 5 with a strikeout. The Angels blew a 3-1 lead in the third and then trailed 6-5 on Albert Pujols 510th career homer -- a two-run shot -- in the fourth. They tied it 6-all in the seventh on Howie Kendricks RBI double off the right field wall that scored Pujols, who singled leading off. Pujols was 3 for 4, and Kendrick went 4 for 4. "You never know whos going to step up," Trout said. "Howie came up with a big double, I put a good swing on it in the ninth and it went out. Im going to swing if its close." The Astros led 1-0 in the second on Chris Carters homer. They took a 6-3 lead in the fourth on George Springers two-run homer and a three-run shot by Jon Singleton. Angels starter C.J. Wilson continued to struggle. The left-hander has failed to pitch more than five innings in four of his last seven starts. He gave up six runs and seven hits in 4 1-3 innings, struck out six and walked one. Wilson was watching game video in another room afterward. Houston starter Dallas Keuchel allowed five runs and 13 hits in five innings, struck out one and walked one. The left-hander was scratched last Saturday against Detroit because of left wrist inflammation. He was making his first appearance since June 22, when he allowed five runs -- four earned -- in a 5-2 loss to Tampa Bay. "That was very disappointing on my part," Keuchel said. "The offence did more than enough to come out with a win, and I just didnt do my part. I havent been too good as of late, so I guess I have to go back to the drawing board and figure some stuff out." NOTES: Trout became the 13th major league player aged 22 or younger with 20 or more homers before the All-Star break. ... Houston activated RHP Josh Fields from the 15-day DL after he went on it because of soreness in his right forearm. ... The Astros traded RHP Andrew Robinson to Atlanta for a player to be named or cash considerations. ... The Angels improved to 28-29 on the Fourth of July, including 14-14 at home. ... Los Angeles won on a walkoff single by Aybar on July 4, 2013. ... The announced crowd of 43,557 was the Angels fourth sellout of the season. . Next week, hell try to add to the list. A Stanley Cup champion as a rookie, Seguin followed that up by becoming the youngest player to lead the Boston Bruins in scoring. . -- Floridas smothering defence returned to form just in time for the third-ranked Gators to keep their winning streak going. . -- During Kansas shootaround on Wednesday before the Jayhawks faced Oklahoma, coach Bill Self told Wayne Selden Jr. . Simona Halep of Romania claimed the fifth title of her career by beating Samantha Stosur of Australia 7-6 (1), 6-2 in the womens final. After trading sets, Gasquet trailed 4-3 in the decider but broke back to 4-4 in a game that went to seven deuces with Kukushkin constantly failing on his forehand shots. . Catch all the action on TSN starting at 10:30pm et/7:30pm pt. Toronto won at Denver and Utah, but lost in Portland and Sacramento. The Kings loss was the most recent game for the Raptors.DENVER -- Anze Kopitars first goal helped the Los Angeles Kings get back in the game. His second stood up for the winner. Kopitar had two goals and an assist, knocking in the decisive score in the final period, and the Kings rallied to beat the Colorado Avalanche 6-4 on Wednesday night. "Those two quick (goals) at the end of the second were huge and we carried that momentum into the third," Kopitar said. "Its nice to start off the third with a power play." The Kings had the man advantage when Jeff Carter, in the middle of a scramble in front of the net, swung at a loose puck, sending it straight up in the air. When the puck hit the ice, Kopitar got his stick on it and sent it into the net past Jean-Sebastian Giguere at 3:13 of the third. Justin Williams added an empty-net goal with 11 seconds left to cap the scoring as both teams returned to action after the Olympic break. "At the end of the day, we got the two points. It wasnt the easiest two points, but well take it," Kopitar said. Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said for the most part, he liked the way his squad competed in the first game back off the break, despite blowing a two-goal lead. "No one is perfect after two weeks off," Roy said. "But weve been working hard and you dont want to let a game like this affect you, especially because I think there are a lot of positives. I think we need to come back on Friday (against Phoenix) with the same attitude that we had today." Jamie McGinn snapped a 2-2 tie when he scored on the power play at 8:57 of the second period off a centring pass from Ryan OReilly, who scored the Avalanches first goal earlier. It was McGinns 15th goal of the season. Colorado went up 4-2 later in the second on Andre Benoits third goal of the season. He knocked in a rebound on the power play, CColorados third score with the man advantage.ddddddddddddNathan MacKinnon helped set up the score with a shot that was stopped by Martin Jones, but the puck trickled out and Benoit punched it with his stick into the net. The Kings re-tied it at 4 with a pair of goals little more than two minutes apart. Kopitar back-handed a shot into the net at 16:49 and Carter put in an equalizer at 18:53 of the second, redirecting Mike Richards shot past Giguere. "Great play by Kopi, just stick it out there," Kings defenceman Matt Greene said. "When you get down by two, youve got to answer, and we got that pretty quickly." Los Angeles opened the scoring on Robyn Regehers first-period goal and pulled even at 2-all when Jarret Stoll knocked the puck past Giguere 24 seconds into the second period. P.A. Parenteau gave the Avs a short-lived 2-1 lead at 16:32 of the first. Matt Duchene sent a pass across the slot and Parenteau slapped it into the right corner of the net before Kings goalie Martin Jones could slide over to block it. NOTES: Avalanche D Erik Johnson served the first of his two-game suspension for his slash on New York Islanders C Frans Nielsen on Feb. 8. Nielsen was placed on injured reserve with a fractured left hand. ... Avs C Maxime Talbot was a late scratch, leaving the team to be with his fiancee after she went into labour. ... Avs D Andre Benoit is one shy of his 100th career NHL game. ... The Kings Dustin Brown played in his 700th NHL game. ... C Jordan Nolan of the Kings was shaken up when he lost his balance and barrelled into the boards early in the second period. A trainer assisted him off the ice and he was taken to the locker room for treatment. ... The Kings allowed more than three goals in a game for only the 10th time in 60 games this season. ' ' '
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