ST. PETERSBURG -- A little more than a week after making his Angels debut, Wade Meckler launched the first grand slam of his career to power the Angels to a 14-3 win over the Rays on Saturday at Tropicana Field.
In the opening frame, Mike Trout hit a single to left field after a seven-pitch at-bat. Vaughn Grissom and Jorge Soler followed with back-to-back walks to load the bases for Meckler.
Rays starter Drew Rasmussen stayed on the inner half of the plate throughout much of the at-bat. Meckler fouled off an 89.9 mph cutter down and in on the second pitch. When Rasmussen went back to the same offering on pitch No. 4, Meckler didn't miss.
The lefty sent the 88.6 mph cutter a Statcast-projected 397 feet to right field with an exit velocity of 105.5 mph for his second homer of the season.
Meckler connected for his first career home run on May 22 against the Rangers, a three-run shot in the first inning that also gave the Angels a 4-0 lead.
He was involved in five of the Angels' 14 runs. Meckler also crossed home plate in the fourth after leading off the inning with a single and stealing second base to get in scoring position. Donovan Walton followed with an RBI double to right field for his first RBI with the Angels.
Trout added to the lead in the fifth, taking a 79.7 mph sweeper from Casey Legumina and sending it a Statcast-projected 417 feet to left field for his 14th homer of the season. Legumina replaced Rasmussen to begin the inning.
The homer continued Trout's long history of success against Tampa Bay. Entering the series, Trout owned a .677 slugging percentage in 73 career games against the Rays, the highest mark by any player against the franchise (minimum 30 games). He also had 27 home runs in those 73 games.
Zach Neto added to the Angels’ lead in the seventh, scoring on a wild pitch by reliever Ian Seymour before leaving the game with an apparent injury.
In the ninth, Jo Adell and Oswald Peraza hit back-to-back homers as the Angels scored seven runs in the inning.