DENVER (AP) — A difficult season for Mike Trout and his Los Angeles Angels team came with a historical benchmark Saturday.
The three-time American League most valuable player and 11-time all-star hit his 400th career home run in the eighth inning of a 3-0 victory over the Colorado Rockies.
The 485-foot solo shot to left center field off a 98-mph sinker from Rockies reliever Jaden Hill extended the Angels’ lead to 3-0 as the club snapped an eight-game losing streak.
“It’s one of the things coming into the season that was on the list,” said Trout, who entered the season with 378 career homers. “I’m just happy it’s over. I’m enjoying it, obviously. It sucks the family wasn’t out here, but they watched it on TV. My boys back home, my two sons, and my wife got to see it on TV. My buddies back home and my family back home in Jersey, they can stop texting me to hit the 400th. It means a lot to me.”
The homer was the 10th longest in famously hitter-friendly Coors Field history since the advent of Statcast in 2015.
After the game, Trout received the ball from the fan who caught it. Trout gave the fan, his wife and his two young children three autographed bats and two autographed balls and, at the fan’s request, briefly played catch with him out on the field.
“Once they get older and realize, that’ll be an awesome memory for the dad to tell the kids, to experience that,” Trout said. “I know how I felt when I went to a ballgame with my dad.”
He became the 59th player in MLB history with at least 400 home runs and the third player to reach the mark while in an Angels uniform, joining Dave Winfield and Vladimir Guerrero. He’s the 20th player to hit each of his first 400 home runs with one franchise.
Additionally, he’s the fifth player ever to hit at least 400 home runs and steal at least 200 bases by his age-33 season, with Willie Mays, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez also in that group. Among active players, only Giancarlo Stanton has hit more career home runs than Trout.
He reached 1,000 career RBIs in July with home run No. 397.
Trout, a career .294 hitter, is batting just .229 this season, though his 22 homers and 59 RBIs are his most in three years after he endured injury shortened seasons in 2023 and 2024.
Entering Saturday’s matchup, Trout had just one home run in his previous 36 games.
“I enjoy playing this game,” Trout said. “Obviously, there’s going to be ups and downs. That’s part of it. It’s always going to be a grind. That’s what I love about it. You get humbled a little bit when you feel like you go out there and you have so much success and then you go through rough stretches. That’s what I’ve been going through. It’s good to finally get this milestone.”
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb