Mike Trout's 3-run homer sparks Angels to victory over Red Sox

Jeff Fletcher, The Orange County Register on Jun 2, 2025

Published in Baseball

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BOSTON — You can forget the questions about the readiness of Mike Trout’s bat.

Trout had three hits for the second time in three starts since coming off the injured list, including a towering three-run homer, to spark a six-run first inning in the Angels’ 7-6 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Monday night.

After missing a month with a bone bruise in his left knee, Trout now has eight hits in 14 at-bats since returning.

He hadn’t hit a homer until his three-run shot in the first, which was sandwiched between homers from Zach Neto and Jo Adell in an historic inning.

The Angels are the first visiting team in the 115 seasons at Fenway Park to hit three homers in the first inning, according to ESPN researcher Sarah Langs. The Angels hadn’t hit three first-inning homers in any game since Sept. 3, 2016, when Kole Calhoun, Trout and Albert Pujols did it.

Neto, who hit his fifth leadoff homer of the year, now has 10 homers in 41 games. He missed the first three weeks of the season rehabbing from shoulder surgery.

Adell’s homer was his first of two in the game. Adell has hit .306 with four homers and a 1.099 OPS in his last 11 games.

No one is as hot as Trout, though.

His first-inning homer traveled 454 feet and nearly left the ballpark entirely. His third hit of the game was a 110 mph line drive off of the Green Monster.

That hit was the 1,675th of his career, which passed Tim Salmon for second on the Angels’ all-time list. Garret Anderson holds the record with 2,368.

Even though the Angels took a 6-0 lead before Tyler Anderson threw his first pitch of the game, there was still drama.

Anderson allowed one run through four innings. When the Red Sox got to see him for the third time, he couldn’t get an out.

In the fifth inning, Anderson was chased after two doubles, a walk and a single. Right-hander Hunter Strickland, who worked two innings the day before, then gave up a two-run single, which cut their lead to 6-5.

Left-hander Reid Detmers got through the sixth, escaping a bases-loaded jam after two soft hits and a walk. Right-hander Ryan Zeferjahn pitched a perfect seventh.

By the time right-hander Hector Neris took the mound in the eighth, he had an insurance run on Adell’s second homer. The margin was cut to one on Ceddanne Rafaela’s homer.

Closer Kenley Jansen, who pitched for the Red Sox last season, worked the ninth to record his 12th save of the season.

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