Fatigue may be factor in Angels star Mike Trout’s struggles

Mike Trout’s boundless energy is apparent virtually every night in the batter’s box, on the base paths and in the field, but the Angels center fielder’s gas light may have flickered on Monday night.

Trout struck out in his first three at-bats, all against left-hander Tommy Milone, in a 10-5 loss to the Oakland Athletics, only the 13th time in his career he has struck out three times in a game. He has never had a four-strikeout game.

Though he reached on an infield single in the eighth inning for his 187thhit of the season, Trout has only nine hits in his last 49 at-bats, his average slipping from .338 on Sept. 9 to .325 Monday night.

“It’s that part of the year where he’s been grinding, playing hard, and you’ve got to keep going,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “We’ll look at him tomorrow and see where he is. He might be tired.

“At times, you’re not going to be locked in, and he had a couple of tough at-bats tonight. But Mike is getting on base and doing many things for us. I know he wants to keep grinding and keep playing.”

Trout, who has 55 walks in his last 52 games, closed in on another milestone Monday night, reaching base for the 300th time, just shy of Rickey Henderson’s major-league record of 301 for a player in his age-21 season or younger.

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