Angels snap losing streak after jumping to early lead against Orioles

Mike Trout leads off the first inning with a homer and the Angels score seven runs in the first four frames on their way to a 7-4 victory. Trout, who hadn’t batted leadoff since 2020, hadn’t hit a first-inning leadoff homer since 2012.

ANAHEIM — In the wake another mediocre offensive performance in the Angels’ fifth straight loss, Manager Ron Washington promised that they were doing the work that was bound to turn their fortune eventually.

It happened a day later.

The Angels got production from throughout the lineup – including a first-inning home run from leadoff man Mike Trout – in a 7-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday night.

“I hope what we did tonight is something that we can just grow on,” Washington said. “It’s just a matter of time and we did it tonight off of a pretty good pitcher (Grayson Rodriguez). So it was nice to see some offense. Everybody got involved. A lot of energy. So we’ve just got to keep it going.”

In an effort to “shake things up,” Washington put his star at the top of the order. Trout blasted a homer – his ninth of the season – on the fourth pitch he saw, marking the first time he’d led off the first inning with a homer since Sept. 28, 2012.

Trout got the Angels going, and the bottom of the lineup sparked most of the rest of the Angels’ 11-hit attack. Logan O’Hoppe, Jo Adell, Luis Rengifo and Zach Neto had two hits apiece.

“It’s important to produce one through nine,” O’Hoppe said. “We’re one offense, not individuals in nine different spots.”

The Angels were 5 for 10 with runners in scoring position, including a pair of two-out RBI hits. Coming into the game, the Angels had just 13 two-out hits with a runner in scoring position.

“They’re huge,” said O’Hoppe, who had one of the back-to-back two-out RBIs in the third. “It’s good to just know that we’re capable of doing it. We knew we are, but to actually see it and see results definitely helps. So we’re gonna keep going with it.”

The Angels (10-14) scored two runs in the second, two in the third and two in the fourth to take a 7-0 lead.

Five Angels players had extra-base hits that left the bat at 104 mph or harder against Rodriguez.

It could have been an easy victory, but the Orioles wouldn’t cooperate. They came into the game with a 15-7 record and averaging a league-best 5.73 runs per game.

Angels starter Griffin Canning picked up his first victory of the season by allowing three runs in five innings.

Although the final line was pedestrian, it was a second straight encouraging start for Canning after three miserable outings to begin the season.

Canning didn’t allow a hit until the fourth and he didn’t give up a run until the fifth, when the Orioles finally tagged him for three runs after the Angels had a seven-run lead.

Canning hadn’t made it through the first two innings without allowing a run in any of his previous four outings this season.

The Orioles also sent a lineup against Canning with eight players swinging from the left side, including two switch hitters. Prior to Tuesday’s game, Canning had allowed a 1.096 OPS against lefties this season.

Canning left the Angels four innings to get out of the bullpen, which was well rested because starters José Soriano and Reid Detmers had worked six and seven innings, respectively, in the previous two games.

Right-hander Adam Cimber got through the sixth. Left-hander Matt Moore gave up a Gunnar Henderson homer in the seventh, just after he was hit by a comebacker.

Moore then gave up a single and he was pulled. Luis Garcia gave up another hit to bring the potential tying run to the plate before he retired the final two to escape with a three-run run lead.

Garcia then worked a perfect eighth and closer Carlos Estévez handled the ninth to pick up the save. It was Estévez’s first outing since his blown save a week earlier in Tampa.

Mike Trout has his 9th home run of the season! pic.twitter.com/rkiNeQwAYF

— MLB (@MLB) April 24, 2024