SEATTLE -- After going 1-for-2 with two RBIs, including a go-ahead sacrifice fly in Wednesday’s 4-3 win over the Twins, Angels superstar Mike Trout said he was feeling more like himself at the plate after making a mechanical adjustment.
Trout, though, acknowledged his career-long homerless drought -- but hinted that it would soon come to an end. Trout made sure of it on Thursday, homering yet again in his favorite road park, as he snapped a streak of 125 plate appearances without a homer with a game-tying solo shot off Mariners right-hander Bryce Miller in the fifth inning of an eventual 7-6 loss in 12 innings at T-Mobile Park.
It was career homer No. 399 for Trout, who hadn’t gone deep since Aug. 6. But he had shown some signs of coming around, coming into the game hitting .300 (9-for-30) over his previous nine contests and starting to hit the ball harder. He did admit that getting to 400 career homers did weigh on him in August but that it hasn’t been on his mind as much recently.
“I was thinking about it for a little bit in the beginning,” Trout said. “But now I’m just trying to put good swings on the ball. I know it’s going to come. I’m not trying to go up there and try to hit a home run. My whole career is just putting good swings on balls and they’ve gone over the fence.”
Trout, though, admitted it was a relief to finally go deep, as it’s something he’s been constantly reminded about from the media and even the postgame broadcasts.
“It definitely was,” Trout said. “Every time I come into the clubhouse, I see it on the ticker at the bottom of the screen with the drought. But the last week or so, I’ve been feeling better.”
Trout, a three-time AL MVP and 11-time All-Star, saw on film that he was falling slightly backward before taking his swing, which was causing him to swing up at the ball. It’s a reason why he struggled with high fastballs. But he believes his swing is now level and where it should be.
“Just working hard with hitting guys down there trying to get back to my old self,” Trout said. “I’ve been getting under a lot of things. Something was forcing me to fall back and swing up. But I did some stuff with my hands that allowed me to get into a good spot and go for it and attack the ball.”
After striking out in his first two at-bats, including just missing a homer to right field in the first on a foul ball down the line, he crushed a 3-2 fastball from Miller for his 21st blast of the year to tie the game at 4-4 in the fifth.
“The first two at-bats, it was the same thing, just swinging up and turning too much,” Trout said. “But I felt better as the game went on.”
It was the 56th career homer for Trout against the Mariners, which is his most against any team and the most by any active player against any opponent. He also has 34 homers in 95 career games at T-Mobile Park and is the all-time leader in runs, homers, total bases, extra-base hits and intentional walks against Seattle.
Interim manager Ray Montgomery said it was nice to see Trout break his homerless spell and is looking for him to finish the season strong. Trout, 34, has had a down year by his standards, hitting .235/.368/.426 in 116 games, including 92 games at designated hitter.
Trout has been relegated to DH duty since suffering a bone bruise in his twice-surgically repaired right knee in Seattle in late April. Trout missed a month with the injury and hasn’t been cleared to play right field since then. But he’s at least been able to stay on the field, as his homer came in his 500th plate appearance of the year. Trout hadn't reached that number since having 600 plate appearances during his AL MVP campaign in '19.
Montgomery said he’s been seeing better swings from Trout recently and he finally was rewarded for the work he’s been putting in.
“The swings, the contact, just the stuff he's been doing recently has been leading to that,” Montgomery said. “And tonight, obviously, we saw it.”