Mike Trout home run daily: Staving off a shutout in 2014

Our next stop on the Mike Trout home run daily brings us to July 22, 2014 against the Orioles, a matchup between teams that would finish with the top two records in baseball that year.

2014 was a good year for Trout, who won his first MVP award, and for the Angels, who won 98 games, most in baseball. The end destination wasn’t what either hoped, with the Halos swept out of the first round of the playoffs, but the journey was pretty cool.

The Angels entered this game two games behind Oakland for the best record in both the American League and their division, with Baltimore looming right behind them. This was the middle game of a three-game series, a Tuesday night game in Anaheim.

The Orioles had control of this game from the get go, with Miguel Gonzalez taking a two-hit shutout into the eighth inning, up 4-0. A walk surrounded by two foul popups put the Angels four outs from defeat, though Trout gave them a brief glimmer of hope.

Trout homered to right center field, cutting the deficit to 4-2. Scroll to 6:35 here:

The home run was Trout’s 24th of the season, and 86th of his career. It chased Gonzalez, but Orioles relievers retired the final four Angels to win, 4-2.