Anaheim, California: Mike Trout showed off practically every aspect of his most valuable player (MVP) talent against the New York Yankees, from his early homer to his late stolen base with a couple of jaw-dropping catches in between.
His teammates saw it as just another night for the Los Angeles Angels star — although no game against this opponent is ordinary for the Derek Jeter fan from New Jersey. “Oh, it’s always fun to play the Yankees,” Trout said.
Trout and C.J. Cron homered, Albert Pujols and Kole Calhoun added run-scoring doubles as the Angels beat the Yankees 4-1 on Monday night for their fifth victory in seven games.
Trout hit his 20th homer of the season in the third inning against CC Sabathia (3-8), crushing a drive to the base of the fake rock pile beyond centre field. The shot made him one of six American League (AL) players with four 20-homer seasons before their age-24 seasons — a list that includes Rodriguez, Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams.
“It’s humbling, but we’ve got a series to win tomorrow,” Trout said.
The reigning AL MVP also saved a couple of runs with two sprinting catches in centre field on balls hit over his head by Chris Young, leaving the Yankees outfielder waving his arms in disgust. Trout has been moving forward to play in shallow centre over the last month, and the catches demonstrated his growing confidence in his formidable defensive ability.
“Mike showed you his talent in every phase tonight,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.
Trout even swiped second in the ninth inning, getting his first stolen base since May 22.
“Real shocker, right?” said a sarcastic C.J. Wilson, the pitching beneficiary of those grabs. “Trout hits a homer, saves a couple of runs with defence. Whatever. Obviously that’s one of the benefits of being a pitcher on this team. You’ve got a guy like that chasing down balls for you.”
Wilson (6-6) persevered through six eventful innings of five-hit ball for his third victory in four starts as the Angels (40-37) moved three games above .500 for the first time since June 2.
Alex Rodriguez drove in a run and Brett Gardner had three hits for the Yankees, who have lost six of nine.
Sabathia pitched six-hit ball into the eighth inning, but got meagre run support in his first loss since May 28. The veteran left-hander has given up 19 homers this season.
“It’s tough, but it’s part of being an athlete,” Sabathia said of his rough start. “Figuring things out, battling and trying to get better. It’s not the ERA, but just the fact that we’re not winning the games that I start. I just want to keep us in the game and try to get some wins.”
In his first game back from a stint at Triple-A Salt Lake, Cron connected in the seventh for just his second homer of a disappointing season. He also got the silent treatment from his excited teammates back in the dugout.
Huston Street pitched the ninth for his 22nd save.
