It was almost impossible to see, especially with the numbers from the super-stellar world of Mike Trout to open the season, but he quarreled a little in his last three games.
With a first-half shot against left-handed Twins Lewis Thorpe on Friday, Trout has broken out in six of his last 10 appearances on the set, including four times in Tuesday’s loss to the Royals. But the Trout – as it always seems to do – broke out of that mini-escape with a key two-stage single in the sixth inning to give the Angels the lead in a 10-3 victory over the Gemini in the series opener at Angel Stadium. And after the twins decided to throw him in that bat, they chose to intentionally go for him in the seventh after a 2-2 draw, which led to a slam from Justin Upton with two outs .
“He’s a grinder despite being this superstar baseball player,” said Angels manager Joe Maddon. “He grinds all the time. He’s focused and ready and wants to be there in those moments.”
The Angels gave up three runs in the top six to lose an early lead, but quickly came back against the easy twins of Randy Dobnak. David Fletcher escaped in one of his typical singles on the shallow right and then Shohei Ohtani broke his bat with a single in the center. Fletcher managed to move to third place, and Ohtani cleverly took second base, throwing his hands in the air after the game to signify his emotion.
Rocco Baldelli, the manager of Trout and Twins, was chosen not only to appear in the triple AL MVP, but also to enter the field. The trout made Minnesota pay immediately with a two-stage single that he snatched right past Jorge Polanco and in the left field to give the angels the lead.
“I felt pretty good about that moment,” Maddon said. “They put the three men on that side and he hit the two of them in that five-six hole. Listen, he’s going to have a lot of those future moments.”
The trout came to another key spot in the seventh, with runners on corners and two outside. Lefty Caleb Thielbar quickly went 0-2, but after Trout went 2-2, the twins decided to go for him on purpose to load the bases and reach Upton. He failed miserably for Minnesota, as Upton absolutely canceled a grand slam on the left to put the game back on after missing two games with spasms in the back.
“You can understand what Rocco did,” Maddon said. “In fact, I did it in the past, intentionally going on a runner with two shots. But J-Up came and felt really good before the game. He didn’t miss it. The ball was made correctly. ”
Going 1 to 2 with two walks in the game, Trout, 29, hits an incredible .386 / .526 / .750 with four homers, four doubles and 10 RBIs in 13 games. He helped the Angels start the season 8-5, bringing them half a game back to the Mariners for first place in the Western American League. And, of course, it was more than Trout, as Jared Walsh started early and went 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs, while Fletcher, Ohtani and Upton all played key roles in the victory. since Friday.
“I’m looking forward to taking him and the whole group to this year’s playoffs,” Maddon said. “So that the boys can play in these types of games. I played many of these games. I think it’s great to play against a good competition. And Mikey came again. “