Mike Trout home run daily: Ending an early slump in 2018

Welcome to the Mike Trout home run daily, where we review every homer of the Angels’ all-time great, one game at a time. Today’s game, chosen by a random number generator, is from April 8, 2018, trying to snap out of a mini slump.

The Angels were finishing off a homestand against the A’s on this Sunday, but Trout was scuffling at the plate. He was only nine games into the season, but was hitting .184/.279/.421, and entered the series finale 0 for his last 14, though Trout did walk four times in that span.

Trout walked again in the first inning this day, and scored on a double by Albert Pujols. In the third inning, Trout finally snapped his hitless skid by hitting Kendal Graveman’s first out to center field for a 3-0 Angels lead.

This was the third homer of the season for Trout, and his 204th career home run.

The fourth inning saw Trout add another hit, this one an RBI single that gave the Angels a 4-0 lead. They would win 6-1. The run he scored in the first inning was the 700th of his career.

Despite that early nine-game slump, Trout later this April would still set an Angels record for fastest to 10 home runs, doing so in 24 games.