Trout homers, Angels roll in 8-4 win over Orioles

Talk about a good birthday.

Mike Trout went 2 for 3 with a home run and two walks on the day he turned 24, and the Angels overcame a back-and-forth start to cruise past the Orioles, 8-4, on Friday night.

From the get-go, it was a good day for Trout, who was serenaded by the right field crowd with a rendition of “Happy Birthday” in the top half of the first inning and crushed a home run to left-center field in the bottom.

On a 1-0 count, he mashed a 97 mph fastball that starter Kevin Gausman left over the heart of the plate. It was Trout’s major league-leading 33rd home run of the year.

The Orioles responded in the third inning with a run, but poor baserunning kept them from taking the lead. First, Nolan Reimold was gunned down by Kole Calhoun trying to advance to third on a Gerrardo Parra single. Adam Jones drove in Parra with a single, only for Trout’s throw to beat Jones advancing to second.

In the top of the fourth, Baltimore took the lead on a two-out home run by second baseman Jonathan Schoop. Schoop lined a changeup that was down in the zone into the left-field seats, making it 3-1.

Trout and the Angels came right back in the bottom half of the inning. Trout and Pujols walked to start the inning. David Murphy blooped a soft line drive into left field to score Trout. After the next two batters recorded outs, Johnny Giavotella tied things up with a double to left field, scoring Pujols.

Matt Wieters put the Orioles back on top in the sixth inning with a drive into the visiting team’s bullpen. A single and double by Schoop and Junior Lake, respectively, ended starter Andrew Heaney’s night. Heaney gave up four runs on 10 hits, both season highs.

Yet once again, the Angels responded. After a leadoff single, Gausman induced two fly outs and worked Giavotella, the eighth hitter, to an 0-2 count. But Giavotella singled, setting off a string of four straight hits, followed by another Trout walk. The biggest damage came from Chris Iannetta, who doubled into the gap to score two. All told, nine batters came to the plate, three runs scored, and the Angels were back on top, 6-4.

The Angels added two runs in the seventh, as Erick Aybar singled against reliever Brian Matusz and pinch-hitter C.J. Cron unleashed a mammoth home run to left-center field off Brian Brach. According to MLB.com’s Statcast, it traveled 456 feet.

Cory Rasmus came on to pitch the ninth, capping 4 1/3 innings of shutout ball from the Angels bullpen, which gave up just two hits.