FREDDIE FREEMAN drove in two runs with a single (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

By David Arthur/Orange County Tribune

With a six-game winning streak and a 9-1 record in August, the Los Angeles Dodgers are starting to run away with the National League West title.

After Friday’s 6-1 win over the visiting Colorado Rockies, the Blue Crew is 69-46, which is 7.5 games ahead of the second place San Francisco Giants.

Lance Lynn (9-9) pitched a strong five innings, yielding only one run – unearned – and held the Rockies to four hits. He struck out nine batters and walked just one.

Three Dodgers had two hits but Freddie Freeman’s one hit – a single – drove in two runs in the decisive fourth.

Tony Gonsolin (7-4) will get the start Saturday against the Rockies.

In addition to the win, the fans were treated to a ceremony in which the team retired the number – 34- of pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, who was a six-time All-Star and the 1981 winner of the National League Cy  Young Award and Rookie of the Year honors.

Angels fall to Astros in Houston

By Pete Zarustica/Orange County Tribune

It was over almost before it started,

The Los Angeles Angels trailed 10-2 after three innings and went on to suffer an 11-3 loss to the Houston Astros on Friday night at Minute Maid Park.

In their first effort to rise above .500 after squaring their record at 58-58, the Halos found their pitching no match for the Astros’ lineup, which blasted out 15 hits and two home runs, both by Jon Singleton.

The home team lit up Reid Detmers (2-9) for seven hits and seven earned runs in 2.1 innings. He walked three batters and struck out none. His relief, Kenny Rosenberg, did a bit better yielding seven hits and four earned runs in five innings. He struck out four batters and walked five.

The Angels collected seven hits, the biggest being a second inning home run by C.J. Cron.

With the loss, the Halos are 58-59, fourth in the American League West. They’re 11.5 games out of first, six games back of the third place Seattle Mariners and 6.5 games back in the wild card race.

These teams go again on Saturday with Tyler Anderson  (5-3) getting the start for the Orange County team.