Mookie Betts is the latest hitter in the storied history of the Boston Red Sox to smack three home runs in one game. What are some other memorable times?
What a night for Mookie Betts. The 23-year old outfielder had the game of his career on Tuesday, sending a trio of fly balls into the seats for his first ever three-home run game.
With this monster performance, Betts moves into rare territory in franchise history, becoming one of only 22 Red Sox hitters that have hit three home runs in one game. What separates Betts from the rest of this group is that he is the only lead-off hitter to ever accomplish this feat for the franchise.
Betts got started early, leading off the game with a solo shot on the second pitch he saw that easily cleared the 410 marker in deep center field. The following inning he came to the plate with two on and two out. After getting ahead in the count 2-0, Betts hooked a line drive down the left field line that fell into the seats just to the right the foul pole to put the Red Sox up 5-0. He would later cap off the trifecta with a solo blast to right field in the 7th inning.
.@mookiebetts was on another level last night. He became the 1st #RedSox leadoff hitter to ever hit 3 HRs in a game!https://t.co/BhYiW5wUjO
— Red Sox (@RedSox) June 1, 2016
He would come to the plate again to lead off the 9th inning with a chance to become the first Red Sox hitter ever to pull off a four-homer game, only to ground out. Not exactly the dramatic ending we hoped for, but who are we to complain? The Red Sox would go on to win 6-2, with Betts driving in 5 runs himself.
The final line of the night for Betts: 3-for-5, 3 home runs, 5 RBI.
His OPS rose from a solid .800 all the way up to .847 by the end of the night, putting him in 23rd place in the league for that category. Betts is also now tied for 8th in the league with 12 home runs and 3rd with 40 RBI.
It was an impressive performance to say the least, but was it the most memorable of the three-homer games in Red Sox history? Recency bias will naturally play a part in convincing us that it deserves to be near the top, but here are a few others that challenge its place.
Next: Jim Rice