ANAHEIM -- Angels superstar Mike Trout appeared to avoid serious injury on Sunday, as he was hit in the left hand by a 94.2 mph fastball from Mariners reliever Casey Legumina, but X-rays came back negative. He’s day to day with a contusion.
Trout exited Sunday’s 8-7 win in 11 innings in the eighth inning after he checked his swing on an inside fastball from Legumina and winced in pain when the fastball hit his hand. He initially tried to remain in the game and walked down the first-base line with trainer Mike Frostad before being replaced by pinch-runner Oswald Peraza. Trout, a three-time AL MVP and 11-time All-Star, had a noticeably swollen hand and was visibly frustrated after the game.
“After looking at how swollen it got, it scared me,” Trout said. “So I’m just relieved it’s not broken.”
It was the second time in the series that Trout was hit by a pitch by the Mariners, after he was also hit by a sinker from right-hander Bryan Woo in Friday’s home opener for the Angels. Woo went up and in with two straight pitches and hit Trout with the second one.
Trout said he understands why Mariners pitchers have been throwing inside, but said they need to do a better job of locating.
“We know where they're trying to get me out, fastballs up and in, so it's just frustrating,” Trout said. “You know, if you can't control it up there, you shouldn't do it. So it is what it is."
Trout said that Woo later apologized after he ran near the mound following a foul ball later in the game on Friday. Angels left-hander Reid Detmers also threw behind Mariners star Julio Rodríguez in that game, but didn’t hit him. Detmers said he yanked a pitch by accident.
But manager Kurt Suzuki downplayed any bad blood between the two teams despite there being the benches clearing between the two clubs in 2022 after the Angels retaliated for Trout being hit by a pitch.
“Balls slip,” Suzuki said. “It's baseball. Like I said the other night, it's part of the game. Obviously, you don't want him to get hit. Or see Mike get hurt. But at the same time, you understand, I was a catcher, that they‘re trying to get guys out.”