Mike Trout misses Shohei Ohtani: Angels lose heavily in first game since AL MVP’s exit

Trout had one of the Halos‘ two hits on the afternoon

Trout rounds the bases following his Opening Day home run.Lapresse

Last month, Los Angeles Angels superstar Mike Trout said he would not be seeking a trade from the team with which he has spent his entire MLB career. But losses like the one he suffered on Opening Day around the majors might cause him to reconsider sooner rather than later.

Trout‘s 2024 season is off to a strong start, but the same cannot be said for the Angels, who watched Shohei Ohtani join the crosstown rival Dodgers in December and dropped their first game of the campaign to the Orioles. As has often been the case throughout his career, Trout ensured that the Angels would get off to a good start on Thursday, but the three-time AL MVP was powerless to prevent Los Angeles from losing 11-3 in Baltimore.

Shohei Ohtani shows true character with selfless act while nobody was looking

Trout’s tater not enough

It began well enough for the Angels, facing the Orioles’ newly-acquired ace right-hander Corbin Burnes. With two out in the top of the first inning, Trout stepped up to the plate and launched a home run into the bullpen in left-center field, a 402-foot solo shot for the Halos‘ first run of the new season.

Unfortunately for the Angels, Trout’s dinger would be one of only two hits their offense would muster on Thursday afternoon. The Orioles rallied immediately, scoring twice in the bottom of the first inning and building a 7-1 lead after four innings. Los Angeles would not score again until the eighth inning, when two runs came across home plate following a throwing error.

The Angels lost on Opening Day for the third consecutive season, and Trout was the only starter to record a base hit. The calendar has not yet flipped to April, but it already appears as if the 2024 campaign will be a long one for Trout and the Halos.

Corbin burns through the Angels’ lineup

Meanwhile, the Orioles’ 2024 season began with a jolt. Baltimore’s defense of the AL East title is off to the ideal start — and O’s fans, already enthralled by the team’s collection of young hitters, were treated to a dazzling debut from Burnes, acquired in the offseason from the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Trout home run was the only hit Burnes allowed in his first start for Baltimore. In fact, it was the only baserunner Burnes conceded in six innings of work, which he completed with 11 strikeouts and zero walks.

Burnes recorded the most strikeouts by an Orioles pitcher on Opening Day in 26 years, and he became the first hurler since 1934 to strike out 10 hitters without allowing more than one hit in his team’s first game. If this is the standard that Burnes will set in Baltimore, O’s fans might be doing a whole lot of celebrating come October.