Walbert Ureña wins the war against Astros to even series

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Walbert Ureña has been one of the most surprising bright spots for the Los Angeles Angels this season and on Tuesday night he continued what's been a dominant run so far for the 22-year-old right hander.

He went five innings without allowing a run while only giving up three hits, striking out seven Houston Astros in the process. It was his second scoreless start of the season and his eighth-straight start of allowing three runs-or-less.

"You go five shutout, it's positive no matter what," Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. "I think for Ureña, he just keeps building... you've got to keep going start by start and competing."

The only spot of concern for Ureña, something that's been a factor for him throughout the season, is his tendency to labor through his outings.

He allowed five walks in the game and it took him 107 pitches to get through five innings. With the Angels bullpen worn thin as it is, having not just Ureña, but all of the Angels starters going deep into games would be a huge plus, but even with his elevated pitch count, Ureña proved himself in tight jams and stranded all nine runners that reached base against him.

"He was competing out there tonight and obviously he didn't have his best command, but his desire to get through that game is what pulled him through," Suzuki said." You can't teach that."

It helped that the Angels got the offense going early to give Ureña the cushion he needed to battle it out on the mound comfortably.

Los Angeles took advantage of Astros starter Kai-Wei Teng 's control issues control issues and a fielding error by Jeremy Pena to score two runs out of a bases-loaded situation.