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CHICAGO -- Mike Trout's bat appears to be coming back to life. The Angels center fielder went 3-for-4 in Wednesday's 2-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox, matching his most productive game of the season and breaking out of a 3-for-18 slump over his previous five games.
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On Thursday, he was 2-for-2 -- including a two-run homer in the fifth inning off White Sox left-hander John Danks as the Angels went on a 3-2 victory to salvage a series split.
His average is up to .289 -- 66 points higher than it was two days earlier.
A Trout revival would be good news for the struggling Angels, who are 7-9 and batting a collective .220 -- ranked 14th among AL teams.
"(But) this isn't about Mike, it's not about one guy," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "We've got to be able to pressure teams from top to bottom and we really haven't got that part of our game going."
The Angels have been limited to four runs or fewer in 13 of 15 games this year.
Anaheim heads home to begin a six-game homestand starting with a three-game series with the Rangers that opens Friday.
Trout came into Wednesday's game batting .220, but saw his average rise 39 points with the effort which included two singles off the otherwise baffling Chris Sale, the White Sox left-handed ace who improved to 4-0.
Trout has two home runs and six RBIs with 11 walks in 16 games. The American League MVP in 2014 hit .299 with 41 home runs and 99 RBIs last year to finish second in MVP voting to Toronto's Josh Donaldson.
Trout is one of three players in major league history to have started his career with 25-plus home runs and 100-plus runs scored in his first four full seasons. Joe DiMaggio (1936-39) and Trout's teammate Albert Pujols (2001-04) are the others.
