Brewers P Peralta tries to slow Trout, Angels

The Milwaukee Brewers kept Mike Trout in the ballpark on Monday night.

But they head into the second game of the three-game series at the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday knowing they'll have to do a better job with the rest of the lineup.

Three Angels -- Tommy La Stella, Andrelton Simmons and Justin Bour -- each hit their first home run of the season in Los Angeles' 5-2 win in Anaheim on Monday night. And though the Brewers kept Trout in check for one game -- he was 0-for-2 with two walks -- it would be foolish to think he's cooling off.

Even with his hitless performance Monday, Trout is hitting .367 with a .574 on-base percentage and .933 slugging percentage.

Trout pointed to a video session he had with hitting coaches Jeremy Reed and Shawn Wooten as the reason for his sudden hot streak. They looked at video from his five-hit game at Yankee Stadium last season on May 26.

Specifically, they tried to emulate how Trout positioned his body in the batter's box.

"I try to put myself and my body in that position every time, and it's been good so far," Trout said. "It's been working. I just got to stick to it.

"I think it's just knowing you're in a good spot to hit when you get up there, being in the right position, feet-wise. Now I'm really looking when I'm going good -- where I'm at, what's my setup -- and trying to consistently go to the plate and come up with that. It's been working, obviously, the last few games."

Brewers starter Freddy Peralta will be tasked with figuring out Trout, and if his last start is any indication, his chances aren't bad.

The 22-year-old right-hander has never faced Trout or the Angels, but in his most recent start last Wednesday against Cincinnati, Peralta had the best game of his career, throwing eight scoreless innings, allowing just two hits, walking none and striking out 11.

Peralta went 6-4 with a 4.25 ERA in 16 games (14 starts) last season as a rookie, and then threw three scoreless innings of relief in the National League Championship Series against the Dodgers.

He had a rough start in his first outing this season when he lasted only three innings and gave up four runs and six hits in a loss to St. Louis. But he bounced back big, and part of his success may have had to do with his decision to stick to his fastball and challenge hitters.

Of the 100 pitches he threw against the Reds, 84 were fastballs. Peralta's reliance on the fastball is something Brewers manager Craig Counsell noticed during spring training.

"The ball's really coming out of his hand well, the velocity has been up all spring, consistently," Counsell said after a Cactus League game against the Angels. "I think he's been very good with his fastball command."

Matt Harvey (0-1) will start for the Angels, coming off a rough outing in which he allowed eight runs on 10 hits and two walks in just four innings of a loss to Texas last Thursday. It was a drastic turnaround for the worse after his opening day start in which he gave up two runs in six innings against Oakland, getting a no-decision.

Harvey is 1/3 with a 6.39 ERA in six career starts against Milwaukee.

--Field Level Media