Boston Red Sox: Top three-home run games

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.

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

Jim Rice
August 29, 1983

Rice is one of only four Red Sox players to have multiple three-homer games on their resumes, having also accomplished this milestone exactly six years earlier to the day. The first time Rice did it came in a loss, making him one of only two hitters in Red Sox history to hit three homers in a losing effort. Therefore we’ll be sticking with the second time he did it for the purposes of our list.

Rice went 3-for-5 in that game, driving in 6 runs with a trio of two-run homers in an 8-7 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

The fireworks started in the top of the first, when Rice hit a two-run homer to put the Red Sox up early. Toronto would battle back to put up five runs through the first four innings, but Rice closed the gap with another two-run blast in the 6th inning to make it a one-run game.

Rice would step to the plate again in the 9th to face Blue Jays closer Randy Moffitt, with Boston still trailing by one. After Wade Boggs led off the inning with a double, Rice followed with his third two-run blast of the game to put the Red Sox ahead 8-7.

Red Sox closer Bob Stanely would slam the door with a clean bottom of the ninth to secure Rice’s game-winner.

Rice would finish that season with a league-leading 39 home runs and 126 RBI, earning him a Silver Slugger award and a fourth-place finish in MVP voting.

Next: Dustin Pedroia

Dustin Pedroia
June 24, 2010

Granted this performance came in the thin air of Coors Field, where baseballs are known to fly out of the park with great frequency, but that doesn’t detract from the drama of Pedroia’s heroics.

Pedroia’s first blast came in the fourth inning to tie the game at 1-1. Then in the 8th inning he would give the Red Sox a couple of insurance runs with a two-run shot that pushed the lead to 11-8.

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Unfortunately those insurance runs weren’t enough, as closer Jonathan Papelbon coughed up the lead for the second straight night to send the game to extra-innings. All that meant is that the Red Sox would need the Laser Show to light up again, which Pedroia did in the 10th inning with another two-run homer to win the game 13-11.

Pedroia also added a double and a single in a 5-for-5 masterpiece that saw him drive in 5 runs, leading the Red Sox to their 7th win in 9 games.

The second baseman was in the midst of his third straight All-Star campaign, but he’d never make it on the field for the Mid-Summer Classic. Pedroia broke his foot rounding second base the day after his epic three-homer performance during a game in San Francisco, essentially ending his season on June 25.

The 5’9” Pedroia has never been considered a power hitter, with a career high of 21 home runs in 2011 standing by far as his peak. That makes this performance all the more impressive given the unlikely source. While the conditions in Colorado may have helped, it didn’t make the effort any less exciting.

Next: Nomar Garciaparra

Bill Mueller
July 29, 2003

Batting in the bottom third of the order doesn’t typically come with much recognition, but in a lineup as loaded as the 2003 Red Sox you could afford to have a hitter of Mueller’s caliber that far down in the order.

Mueller’s three-homer game was monumental for a couple of reasons. Not only did two of those home runs come with the bases loaded, but the switch-hitter became the first major league player to hit a grand slam from each side of the plate in the same game.

His first homer put Boston on the board in the third inning with a solo shot against knuckleball pitcher R.A. Dickey, then of the Texas Rangers.

Mueller’s first grand slam came in the 7th inning. He switched over to the right side of the plate to face the lefty reliever Aaron Fultz, then belted a 2-2 pitch to straightaway left field to put the Red Sox up 9-4.

By the time Mueller got up again in the 8th, the Rangers had sent right-hander Jay Powell to the mound for mop-up duty. This prompted Mueller to switch back to the left side of the plate, where he connected for his third home run and second grand slam of the game.

Mueller would go on to win the batting title that season with a .326 average, playing a key role for a Red Sox team that won 95 games and advanced to the postseason as the AL Wild Card.

Next: Ted Williams

Ted Williams
July 14, 1946

Take your pick of your favorite three-home run game from Teddy Ballgame, he did it three times. While three other players have accomplished this twice in their careers, Williams is the only player in Red Sox history to do it three times.

As impressive as it is any time a player hits three homers in a game, this game may have been the best of the three examples from Williams. The performance came in an 11-10 victory over the Cleveland Indians, with Williams driving in 8 of the runs himself.

His first blast was a grand slam in the 3rd inning that brought the Red Sox back within a run at 5-4. Cleveland tried to pull away again in the 5th by tacking on 3 more runs, but Williams hit a solo shot in the bottom of the inning to keep the Red Sox within striking distance, making it 8-6.

In the bottom of the 8th inning came the big blast, a three-run shot that put Boston ahead for good, 11-10. Cleveland would two runners on in the top of the 9th, but their rally would fall short, securing the game-winner for Williams.

Next: Swihart should stay in left field

The 1946 season was his first since returning from a three year absence due to military service, but Williams hadn’t missed a beat. He hit an outstanding .342/.497/.667 with 38 home runs and 123 RBI en route to winning his first MVP award.