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Angels’ Mike Trout ends HR drought for No. 399 of career vs. Mariners
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- Angels’ Mike Trout ends HR drought for No. 399 of career vs. Mariners
Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-Imagn Images
The post Angels' Mike Trout ends HR drought for No. 399 of career vs. Mariners appeared first on ClutchPoints .
Though the Los Angeles Angels were beaten 7-6 in a 12-inning thriller against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on Thursday, Mike Trout finally ended a 29-game homerless stretch with the 399th home run of his career. The three-time AL MVP connected off Mariners right-hander Bryce Miller in the fifth inning, a solo shot that tied the game at 4-4 and was Trout's 21st home run of the season .
Trout had slumped at the plate earlier this year, hitting .235/.368/.426 across 116 games, including 92 as designated hitter after being sidelined from the outfield due to a bone bruise in his twice-surgically repaired right knee. Having spent part of the season sidelined with injuries , Trout still reached his 500th plate appearance of the season, a milestone he hadn't hit since logging 600 PAs during his 2019 MVP campaign. The slugger credited a mechanical adjustment for his return to form, noting that leveling his swing helped him handle high fastballs more effectively.
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Thursday's homer was Trout's 56th against the Mariners, the most he has hit against any team, and the most by any active player against a single opponent. He has also belted 34 homers in 95 career games at T-Mobile Park, holding the all-time lead in runs, homers, total bases, extra-base hits, and intentional walks against Seattle.
The Angels fell behind early, 4-0, in the second inning due to a pair of two-run doubles from J.P. Crawford and Julio Rodríguez , but slowly chipped away. Logan Davidson hit his first major league home run, and Chris Taylor and Luis Rengifo added an RBI in the fourth. Trout's homer tied the game, and the Angels briefly regained the lead in extra innings when Matthew Lugo singled in the top of the 12th off Jose Castillo .
Seattle, however, rallied dramatically. Jorge Polanco led off the bottom of the 12th with a double, scoring automatic runner Josh Naylor , followed by a game-winning sacrifice fly from rookie pinch-hitter Harry Ford, giving the Mariners their sixth consecutive win and a 7-6 walk-off victory. Ford's RBI was his first in four big-league plate appearances. Bryce Miller struck out a career-high 11 batters over 5 2/3 innings, though he allowed four runs as his command diminished late in the outing.
The win propelled the Mariners (79-68) into a tie with the Houston Astros atop the AL West. Coupled with Houston's loss to Toronto earlier in the day, Seattle now leads the final AL wild card race by two games over the Texas Rangers . The Mariners have won 17 of their past 20 games at T-Mobile Park since the Trade Deadline and became the first team to play consecutive 12-inning games under MLB's automatic runner rule.
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Interim Angels manager Ray Montgomery expressed optimism about Trout's recent swing improvements, acknowledging the importance of carrying momentum into the season's final stretch. Trout, 34, remains one homer shy of joining the exclusive 400-home run club, with his next milestone likely to come in the coming games.
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