ANAHEIM -- Yusei Kikuchi was well aware of what Astros fans -- and pretty much everybody else -- thought of the July trade that brought him from Toronto in exchange for three prospects. The deal was met largely by cynics and naysayers, citing Kikuchi¡¯s mediocre numbers with the Blue Jays and the high cost of acquiring him.

¡°When we¡¯re in the clubhouse all the time, MLB Network is always on and I see everything everyone is saying,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s kind of hard to not look past it.¡±

The opinions of the trade are much different six weeks after as Kikuchi has become an instrumental part of Houston¡¯s playoff push. He held the Angels to three runs and three hits while striking out six batters in seven innings to remain unbeaten in a Houston uniform and send the Astros to a 5-3 victory Friday night at Angel Stadium.

¡°Obviously, I heard a lot of what the fans had to say and stuff,¡± Kikuchi said. ¡°From there, I just want to think that our GM, Dana Brown, he made an awesome decision. I just want to prove to everybody what I¡¯m capable of. Everything is going well right now, but obviously we have one goal in mind as a team -- and that¡¯s just to win the World Series.¡±

Kikuchi is 5-0 with a 3.19 ERA and 0.94 WHIP while allowing 33 hits and 12 walks and striking out 59 batters in 48 innings in eight starts for the Astros, who are 8-0 in his outings. Kikuchi is approaching Randy Johnson (1998), Justin Verlander (2017) and Zack Greinke (2019) as one of Houston¡¯s most influential in-season starting pitching pickups.

¡°We knew that it was in there,¡± Astros manager Joe Espada said. ¡°I¡¯m just glad that he¡¯s been receptive and been able to be open to the adjustments we want him to make with pitch usage and stuff like that. But the arm has always been phenomenal. But how¡¯s been able to adjust to a team, it just feels like he¡¯s been here for many, many years.¡±

The Astros got homers from Alex Bregman and Yordan Alvarez, and closer Josh Hader slammed the door for his 30th save of the season. The win was the 5,000th in Houston franchise history, which dates to the expansion Colt .45s in 1962, and allowed the Astros to stay 4 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Mariners in the American League West with 15 games remaining.

Prior to the trade, Kikuchi regularly featured both a slider and a curveball. But since joining the Astros, he has increased his slider usage while rarely throwing his slower curve, the less effective of the two breaking balls. While he was with Toronto, right-handed batters hit .280 with a .441 slugging against Kikuchi. But with Houston, he has limited righties to a .173 batting average and .315 slugging.

Kikuchi threw 33 sliders and 33 four-seamers Friday from his 85-pitch outing.

¡°When it leaves the hand it looks just very similar to the fastball and then, last minute, it goes away from lefties and into the righties, and is a very difficult pitch,¡± Espada said of the slider. ¡°You¡¯re thinking 96 [mph] fastball and all of a sudden, there's 88, 89 [mph] slider. You don¡¯t have that much time to think. You just have to react, and he¡¯s able to locate it wherever he wants to.¡±

The Astros went ahead, 2-0, in the second inning on a bases-loaded walk to Jose Altuve and sacrifice fly by Alvarez. Bregman¡¯s 23rd homer of the year, a two-run drive off Samuel Aldegheri, made it 4-0 in the third.

Kikuchi walked the eight- and nine-hole hitters to start the third inning, and both wound up scoring. He gave up a homer to Mickey Moniak in the fourth that cut the lead to 4-3, but Kikuchi set down 13 of the final 14 batters he faced, including the final 10 in a row.

¡°He¡¯s been awesome for us,¡± Bregman said. ¡°I mean, obviously, facing him, we knew how good his stuff was. And definitely when you get a guy of his caliber, you hope for big things, and he¡¯s come through and answered the call every time.¡±

The trade is looking better by the day.

¡°Obviously, it¡¯s a business, and we all understand that,¡± Kikuchi said. ¡°I was shocked, myself, that this team gave up three prospects, as well. At the end of the day, I just want to prove that, yeah, Dana Brown, he made an unbelievable trade.¡±