ANAHEIM, Calif. — The cheers at Angel Stadium were already deafening before the ball started its descent. Mike Trout, leader of the Angels and destroyer of baseballs, hit a two-run home run that at first disappeared into the night, but then came crashing down by the SUV parked beyond the center field wall, having traveled 441 feet.
But the momentum of his hit, the strong start made by Patrick Sandoval and the hard work of the position players through the first six innings of the game all came to a head by the seventh inning when the bullpen gave up a three-run home run to Bo Bichette, erasing the Angels’ lead en route to a 4-3 loss to Toronto.
Although still early in the season, Trout has reminded baseball fans and opposing teams why he is a two-time American League most valuable player.
Both of Trout’s home runs this season have been as towering as he has been able to hit baseballs his whole career. He also made a catch at the wall in the sixth inning, on a ball that was lined sharply out to the warning track in center field.
Trout’s shot, which came on the first pitch in the Angels’ home opener on Friday, represented his 900th and 901st career RBIs.
Trout is just the third Angels player to rack up 900 or more RBIs, joining Garret Anderson (1,292) and Tim Salmon (1,016). His two-run contribution helped back up the six innings of one-run ball by Sandoval.
Blue Jays starter Chris Bassitt — who threw the 89.9 mph fastball down the middle that Trout crushed — put a new baseball in his glove and stared down at it as the Angel rounded the bases.
Trout lightly hopped back on to home plate, pointing a finger up in his own celebration before having a celebratory Samurai warrior helmet (picked out by Shohei Ohtani, per the team’s sideline reporter Erica Weston) bestowed on him.
It was an added celebration and a key moment for the Angels offense in a game Sandoval was able to walk off the mound cool and confident, particularly in the first and second innings in which he got his final batters to strike out swinging.
Sandoval received a bit of help, like that out-securing catch Trout made in the sixth. Taylor Ward made another one of those edge-of-the-outfield catches in the first inning, securing the first out of the game.
And Gio Urshela helped secure the final out of the fifth inning, fielding a bouncy grounder down the third base line, making the long throw to first to get the out.
