Tuesday, 3 a.m.
If you think about it, Mike Trout is a better baseball player than Phil Maton.
So why wouldn’t Trout own him?
Trout flexed his muscles in the eighth inning Monday night, launching a two-run homer to lead the Los Angeles Angels to a 7-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. Trout’s blast lifted the Angels to a five-run inning, and seven in their last two at-bats, for the victory.
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Until the eighth, it appeared the Rays might slip by with a win. Zach Eflin was very good, throwing 6 1/3 innings of shutout baseball. And Jason Adam, the team’s first relief pitcher, got out of seventh-inning trouble. That allowed the Rays, who had taken a 1-0 lead on, to hang onto the lead.
But the Rays, with the worst bullpen ERA in the league, allowed the Angels to turn around the game.
Harold Ramirez had three RBI for the Rays.
The Rays and Angels play again tonight (6:50 p.m.) at Tropicana Field. Aaron Civale will start for the Rays against Jose Soriano.