It was nearly impossible to see, especially with superstar Mike Trout’s otherworldly numbers to open the season, but he’d been doing a little shuffling through his last three games.
With a strikeout in the first inning against Twins lefthander Lewis Thorpe on Friday, Trout had struckout in six of his last 10 at bats, including four in Tuesday’s loss to the Royals. But Trout – as he always seems to do – broke out of that mini-slump with a key two-run single in the sixth inning to give the Angels the lead in a 10-3 win over the Twins in the series opener off Angel Stage. And after the Twins decided to pitch to him in that at bat, they chose to walk him intentionally in the seventh after a 2-2 count, resulting in a grand slam by Justin Upton with two outs.
“He’s a grinder despite being a superstar baseball player,” said Angels manager Joe Maddon. “He grinds all the time. He’s focused and he’s ready and wants to be there at those times.”
The Angels gave up three runs in the top of the sixth to lose an early lead, but came back quickly against Twins-reliever Randy Dobnak. David Fletcher dropped in one of his typical hits into shallow right and then Shohei Ohtani broke his bat with a single into the center. With some aggressive base runs paying off, Fletcher moved to third base on the single and Ohtani cleverly moved to second base and threw his hands in the air after the game to indicate his excitement.
It prompted Trout and Twins manager Rocco Baldelli to not only pitch for the triple AL MVP, but also bring in the infield. Trout promptly made Minnesota pay with a two-run single that he tore just past shortstop Jorge Polanco and into left field to give the Angels the lead.
“I was feeling pretty good at the time,” Maddon said. They put the three men on that side and he smashed it between the two of them in that 5-6 gap. Listen, he’ll have a lot of those moments. ‘
Trout got into another key position in the seventh with runners on the corners and two outs. Lefty Caleb Thielbar quickly took the lead with a 0-2 count, but after Trout had worked it up to 2-2, the Twins deliberately decided to run out with him to load the bases and get to Upton. It backfired spectacularly for Minnesota, as Upton absolutely destroyed a grand slam to the left to ditch the game on his return after missing two games with back cramps.
“You can understand what Rocco was doing,” Maddon said. “I’ve really done it in the past, intentionally let out a runner with two strokes. But J-Up came through and felt really good for the game. He has not missed it. That ball was clicked well. “
Going 1-for-2 with two walks in the game, Trout, 29, hits an incredible .386 / .526 / .750 with four homers, four doubles and 10 RBI’s in 13 games. It has helped the Angels get an 8-5 start to the season, putting them half a game behind the Mariners for first place in the American League West. And of course it has been more than just Trout, as Jared Walsh got off to a hot start, hitting 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBI’s, while Fletcher, Ohtani and Upton all played key roles in Friday’s win.
“I’m really looking forward to getting him and the whole group to the playoffs this year,” said Maddon. “So that boys get the chance to play in these kinds of games. We’ve played many of these games. I love playing against good competition. And Mikey came through again. “