Superstar Mike Trout was pushed up to the leadoff spot for the first time since 2020 on Tuesday against the Orioles, as the Angels looked to ignite their flagging offense.

Trout’s leadoff bоmb in the first inning gave the Angels an early lead, so the move paid off right away. And it spurred the аttаck, as the Angels’ 7-4 victory at Angel Stadium ended their five-game losing streak with a barrage of seven runs. With two hits apiece, Logan O’Hoppe, Jo Adell, Luis Rengifo, and Zach Neto led the bottom of the lineup in scoring.

“I made a wise decision tonight,” grinned Angels manager Ron Washingtоn. But Mike deserves all the credit. I don’t receive it.

Though it was Trout’s first since September 12, 2012, at Texas, it was his sixth leadoff home run of the season. In addition, it was his ninth home run of the season, tying Marcell Ozuna of Atlanta for the Major League lead. Trout’s previous achievement of becoming the Rangers’ manager ironically came from Washingtоn.

Trout was in a bit of a funk going into the game, having only Һit.156 (7-for-45) in his previous 11 games, including a strikeout while having the bases loaded in Monday’s 4-2 series opening loss. However, in a 1-2 count, Trout smashed a 97.6 mph fastball over the heart of the plate from Grayson Rodriguez to right center field. It traveled 378 feet, as predicted by Statcast, after leaving the bat at 104.6 mph.

It was fantastic, O’Hoppe remarked. You must adore a leadoff bоmb, obviously. It was strange to see him take the lead when you looked up. However, we would really like to see him continue if he accomplishes that.

Prior to the game, Ron Washingtоn, the manager of the Angels, stated that he just wished to change up his starting lineup. Previously leading the team in hits this season, third baseman Anthony Rendon is now on the injured list after sustaining a left hamstring strain on Saturday. On Monday, Nolan Schanuel was the starting pitcher, but Washingtоn stated he will continue to use Trout in that capacity moving forward.

Washingtоn stated, “I’m just trying to shake some things up.” “I’m just attempting to make my lineup somewhat coherent. Furthermore, [Trout] has done it previously, so it’s nothing new to him. And I’m all with it if we can score a run in the opening inning. However, all I’m doing is experimenting to see what sticks and what works.

Despite being an 11-time All-Star and three-time AL MVP, Trout hasn’t consistently batted first since his first year in 2012. On August 20, 2020, he batted first for the Angels in the second game of a doubleheader that was played in Houston.

138 in ’12, two in ’17, 18 in ’13, and one in ’11 were his two leadoff starts in 2018. At the top of the lineup for 162 games, he had a lifetime batting line of.321/.398/.554 with 33 home runs, 53 stolen bases, and 92 RBIs.

According to Washingtоn, Trout was completely on board with the switch to the leadoff position when they spoke on Monday. Trout is hitting and went 1 for 4 with a big drive to the warning track in the fourth.In 24 games, he batted 237/.324/.581 with nine home runs, two triples, a double, twelve RBIs, and five stolen bases.

Washingtоn stated, “I asked him how he feels about doing it, and his response was the same as always: ‘Whatever you want, skip.'” That concludes our talk.

The rest of the lineup, particularly the team’s sixth through ninth batters, responded with satisfaction, which thrilled Washingtоn. While Rodriguez had a 3-0 record and a 2.63 ERA going into the game, Taylor Ward, Rengifo, Adell, O’Hoppe, and Neto all doubled against him. Trout was the only Angels player to homer. Every one of the first four innings saw an Angels score.

Washingtоn claimed that it was only a question of time. “I hope we can build on what we accomplished tonight. We also faced off against a skilled pitcher.

Right-hander Griffin Canning, who has been making progress, was boosted by Trout’s home run. Canning pitched five innings, giving up three runs while striking out four. He expressed excitement about the offense clicking and noted that Trout’s early surge had energized the squad.

“It was fantastic,” Canning remarked. It felt good to lead off a pitch and have confidence that we could add more. Mike immediately established the tone, and we didn’t turn around.