Neto homers in 5-hit, 7-RBI night to help the Angels rout the Astros 18-3

HOUSTON (AP) — Zach Neto was 5-for-6 with his 21st homer and a career-high seven RBIs and the Los Angeles Angels scored their most runs in three years to rout the Houston Astros 18-3 on Thursday night.

The Angels had a season-high 18 hits and scored their most runs since a 25-1 victory over Colorado on June 24, 2023.

Angels starter Grayson Rodriguez (4-5) gave up just two unearned runs across seven innings while striking out six.

Peter Lambert (8-7) entered as Houston’s most consistent starter but had his worst outing of the season, giving up eight hits and nine runs in 3 2/3 innings.

Houston slipped to 64-64 and saw its two-game lead in the AL West drop to one as Texas beat Washington.

In a scary moment in the fifth, Angels left fielder Wade Meckler was hit in the head by a 90-mph sinker from reliever Bryan King. The pitch appeared to hit Meckler on the helmet over his right ear. He was on the ground near home plate for a few minutes and was attended by medical staff before walking to the dugout and exiting the game.

Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel left in the sixth with right side soreness.

Angels LHP Reid Detmers (4-8, 3.78 ERA) was set to start against Rangers LHP MacKenzie Gore (7-9, 4.45) in Texas on Friday night. Astros RHP Hayden Wesneski (2-1, 5.16) was set to open a home series against Athletics RHP J.T. Ginn (8-7, 3.53).

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Los Angeles Angels' Wade Meckler, center, is looked at by a trainer, left, and Houston Astros catcher Christian Vázquez (2) after being hit in the head by a pitch during the fifth inning of a baseball game Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

Los Angeles Angels' Zach Neto, left, and Adam Frazier celebrate the team's win over the Houston Astros in a baseball game Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

Los Angeles Angels' Adam Frazier reacts after hitting an RBI double against the Houston Astros during the fourth inning of a baseball game Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

Los Angeles Angels' Zach Neto rounds the bases after hitting a three-run home run against the Houston Astros during the fifth inning of a baseball game Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

Los Angeles Angels' Zach Neto rounds the bases after hitting a three-run home run against the Houston Astros during the fifth inning of a baseball game Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

TOKYO (AP) — A man who killed five people by setting fire to a pachinko parlor in 2009 was hanged Friday in Japan's first execution by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi 's government as the country faces growing calls for more transparency and the abolition of capital punishment.

Sunao Takami set fire to the crowded pachinko parlor in Osaka by spreading gasoline and throwing a lit match, engulfing the building, killing five and injuring 10 others, Justice Minister Hiroshi Hiraguchi said.

“It caused extremely serious outcomes and dealt a major shock and fear to the society,” he told a news conference, adding “the victims whose lives were taken away must have felt unimaginable pain and fear, and those who suffered injuries ... were forced to live with long-term effects.”

“As justice minister, I have ordered an execution after careful and thorough considerations,” he said. The Justice Ministry said the hanging took place earlier Friday.

Takami, 58, was convicted of murder, attempted murder and arson and sentenced to death in a 2011 Osaka District Court ruling. His appeals were rejected in 2016 by a Supreme Court decision upholding the death penalty.

Japan now has 100 people on death row, including 43 seeking retrials, Hiraguchi said.

Japan has faced growing criticism over its use of the death penalty, as a majority of the international community has abolished capital punishment. Japan and the U.S. are the only two countries in the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations that put people to death.

Calls to abolish capital punishment or increase transparency have grown after the 2024 acquittal of the world’s longest-serving death-row inmate, Iwao Hakamada.

Executions are carried out in secrecy in Japan, where prisoners are not informed of their fate until the morning of their hanging.

Since 2007, Japan has begun disclosing the names of those executed and some details of their crimes, but disclosures are still limited.

Hiraguchi said he has no intention to change the practice, saying disclosure of additional details would disturb the mental state of the death-row inmates.

He defended hanging as a valid method of execution, citing a number of past Supreme Court decisions saying hanging is not considered more cruel than other methods of execution such as lethal injections, electrocution and shooting.

Hiraguchi cited surveys showing the vast majority of Japanese supporting death penalty as an unavoidable option. Whether to retain or abolish capital punishment is a crucial issue that affects the core of Japan's criminal justice system and requires careful consideration and broad public debate, he said.

Friday’s hanging was the first by Takaichi’s government and took place during a parliamentary recess — a move criticized as a tactic to avoid public debate. Hiraguchi denied it was intentional.

Japan in 2025 executed a man known as the “Twitter killer," who was convicted of killing and dismembering nine people in his apartment near Tokyo in 2017.

Japan’s crime rate is relatively low, but some high-profile mass killings have occurred in recent years.

Justice Minister Hiroshi Hiraguchi speaks during a news conference on an execution of a man convicted of killing multiple people after setting fire to an Osaka pachinko parlor in 2009, in Tokyo, Friday, Aug. 21, 2026. (Masanori Kumagai/Kyodo News via AP)

This photo shows a deadly fire at a pachinko parlor in Osaka, western Japan, July 5, 2009. (Kyodo News via AP)