NEW YORK -- There’s something about hitting at Yankee Stadium for Angels superstar Mike Trout.
Trout, who grew up roughly 140 miles southwest of the ballpark in Millville, N.J., has historically fared well in the Bronx and has kept it going over the past three days. Trout crushed a go-ahead two-run blast to right-center field in the fifth inning on Wednesday night, giving him his fourth homer of the series in an eventual 5-4 walk-off loss.
“He's tremendous,” manager Kurt Suzuki said. “It's been fun to watch. He's been having great at-bats, even his outs are good at-bats. He’s just got to keep it going, but he's been fun to watch.”
Trout, a three-time American League MVP and 11-time All-Star, had several members of his family in attendance for Wednesday’s game, and he made the most of it with his two-run shot off right-hander Luis Gil. He made history, becoming just the second visiting player to homer on three consecutive days at the current Yankee Stadium, joining the Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera in 2013.
No visiting player has homered on four straight days against the Yankees. The only player to homer in four straight games within a series at New York is John Mayberry in 1972, who did it over three days due to doubleheaders.
Trout’s sixth homer of the year went the other way, as he connected on a 1-0 fastball and drilled it to right with an exit velocity of 102.8 mph, per Statcast.
Trout had previously homered twice in a duel with fellow three-time AL MVP Aaron Judge in Monday’s series opener, and he also went deep in the first inning on Tuesday as the Angels hit back-to-back-to-back blasts.
After going 2-for-4, Trout is now a career .344 batter at Yankee Stadium, his highest mark at any current AL park. Only three players have hit more than Trout's four homers in a series against the Yankees, with five each: George Bell in June 1990, Darrell Evans in September 1985 and Jimmie Foxx in June 1933.
Trout, 34, has pointed to a change in his mechanics for his recent success, as he started to take a slight step backward before starting his swing on Friday in Cincinnati. It’s something he did late last year with great success to end the season, and he decided to bring it back after a slight slump. He’s now slashing .239/.393/.552 with six homers, three doubles, two stolen bases and 15 RBIs in 18 games this season.
“I was doing it in BP and never took it in a game until like the last month last season,” Trout said. “And I had success with it. I did it the whole offseason, and when I came into spring, I felt like I was in a spot where I didn't really need to do it. But after the first week, I kind of felt stuck again back there and I started doing it again in Cincinnati. So it’s just like a little modification to get me going earlier.”
Trout’s homer was also the third of the game for the Angels, as Adam Frazier hit his first of the year in the third and Logan O’Hoppe hit his first in the fifth. It was the first career homer at Yankee Stadium for O’Hoppe, who grew up a Yankees fan on Long Island.
“You're watching a future Hall of Famer go to work and have some great at-bats, and I think guys feed off of that,” Suzuki said. “Young guys, veteran guys, they all feed off of him. So it's been great for the team.”