Trout's best moments come early and late

ANAHEIM, Calif. – On another spectacular night for the Angels, who else but Mike Trout could provide the most defining moments?
 
He has made it almost routine. No matter what he does – steal a base, hit a home run, make a dynamic catch – he does it almost nonchalantly, like a kid on a playground.
 
Saturday night, Trout led off the bottom of the first inning by hitting a home run off Detroit Tigers starter Justin Verlander.
 
Nine innings later, he closed out a 6-1 win over the Tigers by making a leaping grab over the fence in center field to rob Prince Fielder of a home run.
 
Then he ran off the field to chants of "MVP! MVP!" from the Angel Stadium crowd.
 
"That kid is a winner," right fielder Torii Hunter said, motioning toward Trout in the Angels' clubhouse. "That's impressive. You look at him and you're like, ‘This kid is one of the best players in the game today.' "
 
It's impossible not to be impressed by Trout, whose contributions Saturday were among several that carried the Angels to their 14th win in 17 games and helped them pull even with the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League wild card race, two games out of a playoff spot.
 
They are hitting well, pitching well and playing inspired defense at a time when every victory – and every defeat – carries vast implications. Everything they're doing, they're doing exceedingly well.
 
"We're playing good baseball, having great at-bats," Trout said. "That's the thing I see. We're not swinging at bad pitches. We're getting our pitch and being aggressive, and we're pitching well."
 
All of those came into play between Trout's bookend first-inning blast and his ninth-inning catch, which secured the win for starter CJ Wilson, who has now won three consecutive starts.
 
Wilson, who at one time had gone 11 consecutive starts without a win, pitched into the eighth inning for the first time since June 8 and gave up just four hits and one unearned run. The Angels are finally benefiting from strong efforts from pitchers who at one time struggled mightily – Wilson, Ervin Santana, Dan Haren and even Zack Greinke.
 
The defense was rock solid. Hunter doubled off a runner in the first inning, left fielder Vernon Wells made two running catches (one in the gap in left-center, the other near the line), and Trout put the finishing touch with his rousing catch.
 
"I think we're past being in awe," manager Mike Scioscia said of the rookie. "He's just a talented young player playing at a high level, and he's doing it consistently. He's doing things he's capable of doing."
 
As impressive as his home run was – it gave him 26 this season, tying the team record for homers by a leadoff batter – it was Trout's over-the-fence grab that made him smile later.
 
"I like robbing a home run," he said. "It's a good feeling."
 
 There's a lot of that going around these days.