Angels Have Needed More From Slumping Vaughn Grissom, Who Gave Six RBIs Last Night

The Los Angeles Angels added infielder Vaughn Grissom in a minor trade with the Boston Red Sox during the offseason, and Grissom’s been an important addition. He’s filled in admirably at several infield positions, but Grissom has been slumping lately at a time when the Halos need more from him. 

Last night they got more—a lot more. Grissom was the offensive star in the Angels fourth straight win, as he dominated the scoring with a six-RBI night that include a grand slam and a run-scoring single in the 10-6 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

Manager Kurt Suzuki was impressed, and he cited Grissom’s consistent approach that finally paid off. 

“It was the same at-bats he has been having, but now he's finding holes, and then, obviously, that one big one was a good one in a big spot,” Suzuki said in a piece written by Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. 

“He didn't try to do too much. I was watching him hit in BP and I said, ‘Man, you don't even have to swing hard to hit that ball far.’ He just took a nice controlled swing and hit it out. That’s impressive territory out there in right-center for that grand slam.”

What made it even more impressive was the come-from-behind factor, as the Angels broke a string of 24 straight games of losing when they’re down in the seventh. Grissom took care of that detail in the eighth with the game-winning grand slam, and he celebrated the end of his slump as he rounded the bases. 

“I've been hitting a lot of balls on the ground so I was trying to see something up and just try to give it a ride over second base,” Grissom said. “I saw the center fielder [Matt Vierling] and right fielder [Wenceel Pérez] tracking it down for a while. So once it actually went over the fence, that was a good sight to see, for sure.” 

Grisson had a three-hit night after going just 2-for-28 in his last eight games, and getting him turned around was important. He’d become a dead spot in an Angels lineup that’s been going cold, and Grissom can be an offensive catalyst when he’s hitting well. 

“It's tough when you're not getting hits, but I felt like I was hitting the ball hard often,” Grissom said. “It was just not rolling my way. But I try to trust what I'm doing. Obviously, it's tough when you’re not getting hits, but just trying to trust it, put the barrel on the ball and whatever happens, happens.”

Suzuki added that the infielder was a “tone-setter,” which was an indirect reference to the ongoing series of flat at-bats that plagued the Angels before they started their current four-game winning streak.