Mike Trout's massive pair of home runs highlight LA Angels' Game 1 victory in Miami

The Los Angeles Angels may have been three hours away from Cape Canaveral, but Mike Trout was hitting rockets out of LoanDepot Park, as the Angels won Monday night's contest 7-4 over the Miami Marlins.

Trout hit two home runs that possibly flew past the county line, with the second measured at 473 feet on a pitch that would’ve likely been called a ball. Nolan Schanuel made his homecoming special with his first home run of the season against the team he used to root for. Jo Adell got a huge stolen base in the ninth inning that allowed him to walk home after a balk from Miami’s pitching staff.

Turns out these Angels can win games and compete if they don’t beat themselves -- and if they get superstar performances from a rejuvenated No. 27.

LA Angels' victory in Miami highlighted by Mike Trout blasts

The last two games -- in Baltimore, and now Miami -- the Angels haven’t shot themselves in the foot with errors and baserunning mistakes.

Okay, I lied. Matt Thais had a catcher’s interference, but that barely counts. Chase Silseth had a rough first outing, probably a little jittery while making his first start with the big league club. He only went three innings, allowing three earned runs, but he did strike out five. The Angels’ bullpen did what they paid them to do, finally. Robert Stephenson isn’t even healthy yet, and yet the team's remaining arms are stepping up. They shut the door for six innings, only allowing four hits and two walks. The less pressure you put on the defense, the more productive your defense can be, since they aren’t always worried about runners on base. On the flip side, though, Anthony Rendon was once again pretty much useless and now has an on-base plus slugging (OPS) of .063.

Besides Rendon's presence, the one worrisome stat was the Angels' 1-for-11 mark with runners in scoring position. The Marlins won’t be contenders -- at least, it doesn’t look like it. They are now 0-5. On the flip side, though, the Angels are winning the games they are supposed to win, and that’s all that matter to fans.

Those same fans should know and accept that the Angels are a longshot to make the playoffs, but hey, most didn’t think they would make it in 2002. Look how that worked out.

Yes, I write to talk about Angels Baseball, and yes, I am biased, but these last two games have given me a glimmer of hope. Now, if we could only just sit Rendon on the bench, I’d be giddy as a fan. I wouldn’t put in past Ron Washington. Great win for the Halos! Light up the halo!