Connect with us

Published

on

DENVER — A difficult season for Mike Trout and his Los Angeles Angels team came with a historic benchmark Saturday.

The three-time American League Most Valuable Player and 11-time All-Star hit his 400th career home run in the eighth inning against the Colorado Rockies.

The 485-foot solo shot to left-center field off a 98 mph sinker from Rockies reliever Jaden Hill extended the Angels’ lead to 3-0, the final score. The win snapped an eight-game losing streak.

“It’s one of the things coming into the season that was on the list,” said Trout, who entered the season with 378 career homers. “I’m just happy it’s over. I’m enjoying it, obviously. It sucks the family wasn’t out here, but they watched it on TV. My boys back home, my two sons, and my wife got to see it on TV. My buddies back home and my family back home in Jersey, they can stop texting me to hit the 400th. It means a lot to me.”

The homer was the 10th longest in famously hitter-friendly Coors Field since the advent of Statcast in 2015 and the fourth longest of Trout’s career. He also hit a 484-foot homer in April, meaning he has two of the three longest homers in MLB this season.

After the game, Trout received the ball from the fan who caught it. Trout gave the fan, his wife and his two young children three autographed bats and two autographed balls and, at the fan’s request, briefly played catch with him on the field.

“Once they get older and realize, that’ll be an awesome memory for the dad to tell the kids, to experience that,” Trout said. “I know how I felt when I went to a ballgame with my dad.”

Trout became the 59th player in MLB history with at least 400 home runs and the third player to reach the mark while in an Angels uniform, joining Dave Winfield and Vladimir Guerrero.

Additionally, Trout is the fifth player to hit at least 400 home runs and steal at least 200 bases by his age-33 season, with Willie Mays, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez also in that group. Among active players, only Giancarlo Stanton has hit more career home runs than Trout.

Trout reached 1,000 career RBIs in July with home run No. 397.

A career .294 hitter, Trout is batting just .229 this season, though his 22 homers and 59 RBIs are his most in three years after he endured injury-shortened seasons in 2023 and 2024.

Entering Saturday’s matchup, Trout had just one home run in his previous 36 games.

“I enjoy playing this game,” Trout said. “Obviously, there’s going to be ups and downs. That’s part of it. It’s always going to be a grind. That’s what I love about it. You get humbled a little bit when you feel like you go out there and you have so much success and then you go through rough stretches. That’s what I’ve been going through. It’s good to finally get this milestone.”

The Associated Press and ESPN Research contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Sports

Sources: ASU’s top WR Tyson expected back

Published

on

By

Sources: ASU's top WR Tyson expected back

Jordyn Tyson, Arizona State‘s leading receiver, is expected to return from a hamstring injury and play Saturday when the Sun Devils visit the Colorado Buffaloes, sources tell ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Tyson is expected to participate in pregame warmups, and barring any setbacks, he’ll be cleared to play against his former team.

Tyson suffered the injury Oct. 18 in Arizona State’s upset win over then-undefeated Texas Tech. He finished that game with 10 catches for 105 yards and a touchdown but has not played since.

Despite missing the past three games, Tyson leads the Sun Devils in catches (57) and yards receiving (628), and he is the team leader with eight touchdowns.

Continue Reading

Sports

UAB: Player arrested after stabbing 2 teammates

Published

on

By

UAB: Player arrested after stabbing 2 teammates

A UAB football player stabbed two of his teammates Saturday morning at the football facility ahead of the Blazers’ home game against USF, a university spokesperson told ESPN.

The suspect has been arrested, and both injured players are in stable condition after being taken to UAB hospital. The school has not released the names of any of the players involved.

UAB’s game against USF began as scheduled at 3 p.m. ET.

A UAB official said an investigation is ongoing.

“UAB’s top priority remains the safety and well-being of all of our students,” the school said in a statement.

Continue Reading

Sports

Sources: Ohio St. to be without WRs Tate, Smith

Published

on

By

Sources: Ohio St. to be without WRs Tate, Smith

Ohio State wide receivers Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith are not expected to play against Rutgers on Saturday due to lower-body injuries, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Tate will miss his third straight game. Smith played in last week’s win over UCLA but missed the second half after being seen limping before halftime. Both are considered day-to-day, sources said, ahead of a potential return next week against rival Michigan.

On Tuesday, coach Ryan Day would not rule out either wide receiver but also did not want to go into specifics on their availability.

“Our policy is we don’t discuss specifics on injuries, and once you start going down a little bit here, a little bit there, you can create a problem,” Day said. “So for a number of reasons, we don’t discuss those things.”

Smith leads the Big Ten and ranks third in the nation with 10 touchdown catches while ranking third in the conference in receiving yards per game (90.2) and second in catches per game (6.9). Tate is fifth in the Big Ten with 88.9 receiving yards per game.

Brandon Inniss started in place of Tate against UCLA and led No. 1 Ohio State with six catches for 30 yards during a 48-10 win.

The 5-5 Scarlet Knights are looking to beat Ohio State for the first time in their 11th try since joining the Big Ten in 2014.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Continue Reading

Trending