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Mike Trout hit a go-ahead homer that doubled as a career-first


Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout has pretty much accomplished everything during his seven-year stint in the majors. The 25-year-old has won MVPs, made All-Star games, starred in commercials and led the league in virtually every offensive category.

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So it should come as a surprise when he manages to do something he’s never done before. That was the case during Monday’s 5-3 win over the Chicago White Sox.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Trout struck. With the game tied 3-3, he hammered a solo shot to left center field off Mike Pelfrey to give the Angels a lead.

“Trout’s been hitting home runs quite a bit lately,” you might be saying to yourself right now. Well, you would be right. Monday’s solo shot marked the fourth-straight game in which Trout has hit a home run. He’s never done that before.

While that’s an impressive run, the record for home runs in consecutive games is eight. That feat has been accomplished by Ken Griffey Jr., Don Mattingly and Dale Long. Trout is only halfway there. Only 20 players have ever hit home runs in six consecutive games, so maybe Trout can focus on that for now.

Mike Trout continues to do amazing things at the plate. (AP Photo)
Mike Trout continues to do amazing things at the plate. (AP Photo)

The blast was Trout’s only hit of the night. He finished 1-for-3, with a solo home run and a walk. His batting average actually went down.

Trout is once again off to a blazing start. Through 35 games, he’s hitting .352/.450/.752, with 12 home runs. He came into Monday’s game with the highest WAR in the American League according to FanGraphs. He was tied with Chris Sale for WAR according to Baseball-Reference’s version of the stat. Considering Sale didn’t pitch Monday, it’s safe to assume Trout has pulled ahead.

That’s to be expected at this point. Trout has done all those things before. He’ll do all those things again. The fact that we expect complete and utter domination every time he takes the field is probably the most impressive thing Trout has accomplished in his young career.

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik