Ohtani, Trout power past Orioles in comeback win

May 18th, 2023

BALTIMORE -- As and go, so go the Angels. This week in Baltimore was a prime example.

On Monday, Ohtani did it all in an Angels win. He and Trout went hitless on Tuesday in a four-run loss. Trout awoke from a two-week slump to homer Wednesday, but without help, the Angels lost. They put it all together Thursday afternoon, salvaging a series split with a come-from-behind 6-5 win over the Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards that featured a little bit of everything from the Angels’ superstar duo.

“It was a team win, for sure,” Trout said. “It was a fun, fun game.”

Trout and Ohtani both homered before Ohtani legged out an eighth-inning go-ahead infield single and cut down a key runner with an outfield assist in the ninth to help send the Angels aboard their cross-country flight home a game over .500.

Ohtani skied a solo shot to right off Tyler Wells in the first and Trout lined a two-run homer over Oriole Park’s tall left field wall in the third, marking the third time this season they’ve homered in the same game and 25th since they became teammates in 2018.

The Angels are now 3-0 in those contests this year, and 17-8 all-time. The homers were the second of the series for both Ohtani and Trout, and the second in two nights for the suddenly-not-slumping Trout. The Angels, to no coincidence, left the Charm City with two victories. They are 8-2 this season when Ohtani homers, 7-2 when he pitches, 15-20 when he doesn’t do either and 23-22 overall.

“He’s been consistent, he’s been good all year,” Angels manager Phil Nevin said of Ohtani. “He’s not going to get a hit every time. He’s not going to homer every time. But certainly, his homer in the first was a big jolt for us, and we took it and ran with it.”

For the Angels, sometimes it’s just that simple. But on Thursday, it wasn’t. On Thursday, they needed Ohtani’s bat early, and his wheels late. The go-ahead infield single was the first of his career in the seventh inning or later.

Ohtani reached a top speed of 28.7 feet per second to beat Danny Coulombe and Ryan Mountcastle to the first base bag after Mountcastle corralled his two-out one-hopper in a tie game. Ohtani dashed up the first base line in only 4.22 seconds, allowing to scamper home with the go-ahead run.

Just when you think he’s done it all, he does something new.

“[Coulombe] falls off the mound over to the right -- it’s so hard to beat him to the bag, he’s so fast,” Mountcastle said. “I dove and looked up, and it’s one of those things, it’s [tipping] your cap. [Ohtani is] insanely fast, so he was probably going to beat it out no matter what.”

“I think Ohtani beats him," said Orioles manager Brandon Hyde. "Watching it on replay, I thought Ohtani, kind of a jailbreak screen and he’s 3-point something down the line. I think he’s safe anyways.”

The results have been less automatic lately for Trout, who entered play Wednesday mired in a 7-for-38 (.184) funk during which he uncharacteristically had trouble catching up with in-zone fastballs. That appears over.

Trout punched a top-of-the-zone Kyle Bradish fastball over the right-center field wall Wednesday and turned two more around Thursday, his 110.4 mph homer and a 100.9 mph single.

“He said he’s close and I’ve been telling you guys, he’s close,” Nevin said. “You don’t keep guys like that down too long. He strives to be the best out there and it bothers him when he’s not.”