Ron Washington’s Move To Mike Trout At Leadoff Pays Dividends In Win Over Orioles

The Los Angeles Angels have finally gotten back to the win column with a 7-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday. It ended a five-game losing streak for the Halos and gave them their 10th win of the season. And across the board, Angels players gave the credit for the win to manager Ron Washington and superstar Mike Trout.

Trout had been struggling in the team’s last few games, directly correlating to the ongoing losing streak. Washington, in an effort to curb this, decided to move Trout to the leadoff spot for the first time since 2020. The move paid almost instant dividends, as Trout took a 1-2 fastball 392 feet to center for a leadoff home run. It was only the sixth leadoff home run of his career.

Washington, after the win, jokingly patted himself on the back for the move. But the bigger credit went to Trout for rolling with the punches and being on board to switch things up so early in the season, according to Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com:

“That was a good move I made tonight,” Angels manager Ron Washington said with a smile. “But the credit goes to Mike. It doesn’t go to me.

“I asked him how he feels about doing it and his answer was the same as always: ‘Whatever you want, skip,’” Washington said. “So that was our conversation.”

Angels starting pitcher Griffin Canning got the win on Tuesday, allowing three earned runs over five innings with five hits, two walks and four strikeouts. He credited Trout for giving him the chance to pitch more freely, as it was his first time this season getting through the first two innings without putting a run on the board.

“It was awesome,” Canning said. “It was nice to pitch with a lead and know that we would keep adding on. Mike set the tone right away and we didn’t look back.”

The Angels desperately needed to get back on track, and while one win doesn’t end a slump, doing so with a seven-run outing can certainly be a spark.

Ron Washington still working on defense with Luis Rengifo

Luis Rengifo had two crucial errors over the weekend for the Angels that directly contributed to two losses. And while losses in baseball cannot be blamed on one person, Washington did take it as an opportunity to help a young infielder make some necessary improvements defensively.