ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Rumors of Jered Weaver's demise have been greatly exaggerated. At least, that is, if his performance against the Houston Astros was any indication.

Weaver this season had not looked anything like the pitcher who won 18 games last year for the Los Angeles Angels, but Friday night at Angel Stadium, the Weaver of old emerged with a six-hitter in a 2-0 victory.

The hits Weaver allowed were all singles, and he didn't walk a batter for the fifth time in his seven starts this year to post his first win of the season. It was his seventh career shutout and the first since Aug. 6, 2012, against Oakland.

"I know it's a matter of time before it starts showing up, and it showed up tonight," said Weaver, who threw a season-high 120 pitches. "I still got a ways to go, keep working hard and prove some people wrong. It's just nice to get a win and get the monkey off my back."

Weaver outdueled Astros starter Roberto Hernandez, who pitched well -- giving up two runs in 7 2/3 innings -- but not good enough to win.

Weaver (1-4) had lost five consecutive decisions and was winless in his previous seven starts, going back to his final start of the 2014 season. His fastball velocity was down to the 83 mph range, causing some to wonder if he had suddenly lost his edge.

But Weaver's fastball peaked at 89 mph on Friday and averaged between 86-87 most of the night. He was in such control that no Astros runner even reached second base.

"I was happy to get people out," Weaver said. "I didn't care about velocity."

Between starts, Weaver worked with pitching coach Mike Butcher on ironing some things out in his delivery, and it paid off.

"Just not fighting myself, more energy in my delivery," Weaver explained. "Trusting stuff, and trying to work through the target."

The Angels couldn't muster much against Hernandez, but four of their six hits came in the fifth inning when they pushed across two runs.

Third baseman David Freese, who had two hits in the game, began the inning with a single. Shortstop Erick Aybar had a key hit-and-run single, designated hitter C.J. Cron drove in one run with a sacrifice fly and catcher Carlos Perez, making his third major league start, drove in the other with a two-out RBI single.

"They created their own inning to score themselves. Otherwise, we're talking about how well Roberto threw," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. "Roberto was good, made pitches and kept us in the game."

The Astros' best chances to score against Weaver came early when they had five of their six hits in the first three innings. But Weaver was helped when the Angels twice were able to remove Astros second baseman Jose Altuve from the bases.

Altuve had singles in the first and third innings, but in the first he was thrown out trying to steal, and in the third he was picked off by Weaver.

Weaver retired 19 of the final 21 batters he faced, allowing only a single and a runner to reach on an error.

"Weaver did a good job of really never giving in, and never throwing the same pitch the same speed for nine innings," Hinch said. "We really didn't have a counterpunch for him. Early on, we singled him a little bit, but he settled in and changed speeds, picked at the corners and never threw the same pitch twice."

NOTES: The Astros placed RHP Luke Gregerson on the family medical emergency list, meaning he will be inactive for a minimum of three days and a maximum of seven days. The club called up RHP Asher Wojciechowski from Triple-A Fresno to replace Gregerson on the roster. Wojciechowski was up with the club earlier this season, going 0-1 with a 7.31 ERA in four games (three starts). ... The Angels called up RHP Ryan Mattheus from Triple-A Salt Lake, and sent down INF/OF Efren Navarro to make room on the roster. The Angels needed some bullpen depth after using both set-up man RHP Joe Smith (three straight games) and closer RHP Huston Street (two in a row) frequently in recent days.