Mike Trout out rest of the season, Albert Pujols leads Angels to victory

Angels 6, Rays 4

After a week of will he, won’t he, the Angels finally announced today that Mike Trout is not returning to action the rest of the season. There will be articles written, speculation about whether or not the 600 plate appearances he’s garnered will be enough to win him his third AL MVP. For today, however, the news just provides yet more doom and gloom over what was sure to be another impending loss. Right? Right?

Albert Pujols, now the leader of the squad for the rest of the season, delivered. First it was cheeky.

After a double that only fell because Avisail Garcia basically has JD Martinez range in right, Pujols stole a bag. Later in the game, he crushed a home run:

Pujols is now at 656 career home runs, just four behind Willie Mays.

Patrick Sandoval, still on his hard pitch count, worked four strong innings, only allowing one run in the first inning. The bullpen trio of Noe Ramirez, Luis Garcia, and Hansel Robles was strong, but Ty Buttrey’s struggles continued, as he allowed a three-run homer to Austin Meadows to cut the deficit to two.

Ultimately, the Angels pulled out the win, and they sit firmly entrenched at 10th place in the tank race. Unless something totally crazy happens, that is probably where they will pick in the 2020 draft.