You cannot stop Mike Trout right now

ANAHEIM -- The home runs keep coming for Angels superstar Mike Trout, who absolutely clobbered his fifth career grand slam in a 5-1 win over the Rangers on Saturday, giving him four homers over his past three games.

The Angels had been scuffling with runners in scoring position, but Trout made Rangers lefty Drew Smyly pay for loading the bases with one out in the fourth inning. Trout crushed a 1-1 fastball to left a projected 458 feet, per Statcast. It was the third-longest homer by Trout since Statcast was introduced in 2015, and it left the bat at 108.6 mph, with a launch angle of 33 degrees.

“I was just trying to get the runs in,” Trout said. “We had a lot of good opportunities, but we just couldn't drive them in. I got a pitch to hit and hit it out."

Trout’s no-doubter is tied for the third-longest homer in the Majors this season with Bryce Harper. Nomar Mazara has the longest projected blast this year at 482 feet. Trout’s longest career homer is 477 feet, against former Rockies left-hander Chris Rusin at Coors Field.

"I meant to get it in a bit,” Smyly said. “I was trying to go up. It was just a little bit middle of the plate. Maybe I made him mad when I hit him [in the third] and he ends up hitting a grand slam. You don't want to make him mad. He's the best hitter on the planet. There's no denying it.”

Notably, this homer came on a fastball up in the zone, which was a weak spot for Trout early in his career, but something he's since improved.

“I couldn't tell you one thing I'm doing to hit those pitches,” Trout said. “Just knowing that I'm trying to get a good pitch to hit, put a barrel to it and try not to do too much. If you try to do too much with a pitch up there, you're not going to hit it -- you're going to pop up.

Trout, who homered on Thursday and then twice on Friday, extended his on-base streak to nine games this season. It's the seventh time he's homered in three consecutive games; his career-best streak is four games, from May 12-15, 2017.

“Trout’s been the bulk of our offense these last couple games where we’ve won,” Angels manager Brad Ausmus said. “I’d like to see more contribution up and down the lineup. But there are times when Mike Trout is going to be the bulk of our offense.”

It was Trout's first grand slam since 2015, and his 29th career homer against the Rangers, taking him past the A’s Khris Davis for most among active players against Texas. Reggie Jackson has the most career homers against the Rangers with 43, while Tim Salmon has the most as an Angel with 35.

Albert Pujols also got into the action with his first homer of the season off reliever Adrian Sampson on a first-pitch sinker in the seventh. It was career hit No. 3,089 for Pujols, which ties him with Ichiro Suzuki for 22nd all-time. Reliever Noe Ramirez caught Pujols’ homer in his hat in the bullpen.

“He’s hit some balls hard, some right at people, but that was a no-doubter,” Ausmus said before being told of Ramirez’s snag. “And nice job, Noe.”

The big flies backed lefty Tyler Skaggs, who turned in the best outing of the season by an Angels starter, allowing one run on five hits and a walk over 6 1/3 innings with five strikeouts. The lone run came in the fifth on an RBI single from Isiah Kiner-Falefa after a leadoff double by Logan Forsythe. It was Skaggs’ first win since July 25 against the White Sox.

"I ended the season not the way I wanted to last year, but at the same time, I know the caliber of pitcher that I am," Skaggs said. "Hopefully, this is the first of many this year."