Trout homers twice, helps Angels rally for 10-9 win over A’s

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This article was published 11/08/2020 (2198 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Mike Trout is beginning to believe there might be something to the notion of having added power after the birth of a child.

The reigning AL MVP has certainly been on a tear since son Beckham was born. Trout homered twice Monday night, including a tiebreaking shot in the eighth inning, as the Los Angeles Angels rallied from an early five-run deficit for a 10-9 victory that snapped the Oakland Athletics’ nine-game winning streak.

“People ask me about this Dad power. I guess it is a thing,” Trout said. “There’s nothing like being a Dad.”

With three hits in the series opener, Trout is 11 for 30 with six home runs and 11 RBIs in the past seven games. He rejoined the team in Seattle on Aug. 4 after his wife, Jessica, gave birth to Beckham on July 30.

“I am a little more relaxed. Leading up to it I was extremely worried about the coronavirus,” Trout said. “I didn’t want to have it and come home. But we have been keeping it safe in the Trouthold and everyone in the organization has been doing a good job.”

Anthony Rendon and Shohei Ohtani also homered for the Angels.

Trout’s solo drive off Yusmeiro Petit (1-1) in the eighth helped Los Angeles stop a three-game skid. It was the 20th multi-homer game of Trout’s career, which tied Tim Salmon and Vladimir Guerrero for the franchise record.

“We had a rough weekend. We weren’t doing our jobs when we had our chances,” Trout said. “But this is a new homestand and we got a huge win against an Oakland team that was coming in hot.”

Los Angeles trailed 9-4 in the fourth before Trout began the rally with a two-run drive into the Angels’ bullpen in left field. Ohtani had an RBI double in the inning to bring them to 9-7 and then tied it with a two-run homer to centre in the sixth.

It was Ohtani’s 44th career home run, which tied Tadahito Iguchi for fourth in the majors by a Japanese-born player.

The Angels’ bullpen, which has struggled this season, allowed only two hits over the final five innings.

Noe Ramirez, Keynan Middleton, Felix Peña (1-0) and Ty Buttrey held Oakland scoreless. Buttrey earned his second save.

“They struggled early in the season, but hopefully the issue has resolved itself,” manager Joe Maddon said. “Normally it takes a month to get a bullpen in order and we are trying to do it more quickly.”

Matt Chapman homered twice and tied a career high with six RBIs for AL West-leading Oakland.

After the Angels got three runs in the first, Chapman put Oakland on the board as he lined Julio Teheran’s fastball over the wall in left-centre leading off the second. Chapman gave Oakland a 5-3 lead an inning later with a two-run drive to centre for the fifth multi-homer game of his career.

Chapman’s bases-loaded triple in the fourth extended the Athletics’ lead to 8-4. But after Chapman scored when Mark Canha’s shallow fly to left popped out of Justin Upton’s glove, the A’s managed only two hits over the final five innings.

“We had a couple of bad pitches, plus pretty good hitting lineup on their part, too,” Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. “Our guys have been pretty good this season and it was just a tough night. Tonight was an offensive night and hitters got their due. For a bullpen that’s been as good as we have been, we just gave up some runs tonight.”

FOR STARTERS

Teheran retired the side in the first but ran into problems after that. The right-hander went only two-plus innings and allowed five runs on five hits.

Oakland’s Sean Manaea also ran into early problems. The left-hander went 2 2/3 innings and was charged with four runs on seven hits.

RENDON’S MILESTONE

Rendon had two hits to reach 1,000 for his career. The Angels’ third baseman — who signed a seven-year, $245 million contract during the off-season — reached the milestone in the sixth inning with a line-drive single to centre.

Rendon came into the game in an 0-for-21 slide but quickly snapped that with a two-run drive to left to extend Los Angeles’ lead to 3-0 in the first.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Angels: SS Andrelton Simmons (ankle) took batting practice and did some running before the game. Maddon said Simmons is getting closer to returning but didn’t have a definitive timetable. … LHP Jose Suarez was taken off the injured list due to an undisclosed injury and optioned to the alternate training site.

UP NEXT

Oakland RHP Mike Fiers (1-0, 5.63 ERA) has won his past two starts at Angel Stadium. He will be opposed by right-hander Dylan Bundy (2-1, 2.08), who threw the Angels’ first complete game since 2018 last Wednesday at Seattle.

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