ANAHEIM -- After a bit of a slow start, Angels superstar Mike Trout has been heating up at the plate.
Trout crushed a go-ahead two-run blast in the fifth inning of Saturday¡¯s 10-4 win over Cleveland off right-hander Tanner Bibee, giving him a homer in three straight games and an extra-base hit in four consecutive contests.
It was one of four homers hit by the Angels off Bibee, as Luis Rengifo and Jorge Soler both went deep in the first inning and Logan O'Hoppe added a two-run blast of his own in the fifth. It was also the third straight game with a homer for O¡¯Hoppe.
¡°The offense has woken up,¡± said manager Ron Washington. ¡°They¡¯ve been swinging the bats since the second game of the season, and tonight we just put it together the way we know we¡¯re capable of putting it together. We¡¯re proud of the work they¡¯re doing.¡±
Trout was slated to start in right field for an eighth straight game but was switched to designated hitter three hours before first pitch to get him off his feet. Soler started in right field instead and the plan worked to perfection with both smacking homers, including the first of the year for Soler.
Trout, a three-time AL MVP and 11-time All-Star, went 1-for-13 through his first four games before turning things around with a double and a flyout to the warning track in St. Louis on Tuesday. He then homered on Wednesday and again on Friday and has had an RBI in each of his past five games.
¡°I¡¯m having good at-bats, hitting some pitches, missing some pitches, but it¡¯s getting close,¡± Trout said. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s mechanics, I think it¡¯s keeping the head still. When it sways back and forward the ball starts moving, so I¡¯m just trying to keep it simple. When the head is still, I see everything, and the swing is right.¡±
Trout, 33, went 1-for-4 and is slashing .172/.278/.517 in eight games this season, so he's still trying to fully work his way back from his early funk. But the power is there and his swing is starting to come around.
¡°It¡¯s Mike Trout,¡± Washington said. ¡°It will get better. The more he sees pitches, the better it¡¯s going to get. I¡¯m not worried about Mike. As long as we can keep him on the field and keep his presence around here, he¡¯s going to be Mike.¡±
Trout said he was helped by a 10-pitch at-bat against Bibee in the third that resulted in a strikeout looking but let him know what to expect in his next at-bat. So when Bibee missed his location on a 1-0 cutter, Trout delivered the go-ahead blast.
¡°I saw everything he had,¡± Trout said. ¡°I was going up there trying to put a good swing on the ball and got a pitch to hit.¡±
Rengifo, who left Friday¡¯s game with left hamstring tightness, got things started for the Angels with a solo blast in the opening frame for his first homer of the year. After Trout drew a one-out walk, Soler connected on a two-run shot to give the Angels an early lead.
¡°They jumped on us in the first inning, and we came back and answered,¡± Washington said. ¡°It was nice to see Rengifo get stretched out. It was nice to see Jorge get his first one out of the way, because there¡¯s a lot more coming. Our offense put it together tonight really well.¡±
But after the Guardians tied it against right-hander Jack Kochanowicz, Trout came through with his two-run blast in the fifth that sparked a seven-run frame. O¡¯Hoppe knocked Bibee out of the game with his team-leading fourth blast of the year and the Angels tacked on three more runs, keyed by a two-run double from Tim Anderson and an RBI single from Taylor Ward.
¡°That was awesome,¡± Kochanowicz said. ¡°Fires me up. I mean, when I give a homer I don't want to give up, and then they immediately come back with some firepower that really, really gets us going.¡±
O¡¯Hoppe is off to a strong start, slashing .320/.346/.800 through his first six games, but he said he¡¯s trying not to focus on his stats and is trying to stay even keel early in the season.
¡°Honestly, I think it's a process,¡± O¡¯Hoppe said. ¡°I'm just working on it every day. I don't feel like things are going well or bad. I feel very neutral and I¡¯m gonna enjoy it and get some sleep and get to work again tomorrow."