MLB teams combine to set never-before-seen HR record
Baseball fans who love the long ball had plenty to cheer about Tuesday.
A day of historic home runs included rookie sensation Shoehei Ohtani’s first major league blast, Christian Villanueva’s historic three-homer game and Didi Gregorius’s two homers and eight RBIs in the Yankees’ home opener.
Lost in the excitement over those shots was another home run feat — one that had never happened in MLB history.
In the Brewers-Cardinals game at Miller Park, Dexter Fowler went deep on the first pitch for St. Louis against Chase Anderson. Two pitches later, Tommy Pham did the same, giving the Cards an early lead.
#BACK2BACKJACKS WOW! We start the game with home runs from @DexterFowler and @TphamLV! #STLCards pic.twitter.com/Qih932XbDC
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) April 3, 2018
St. Louis was ahead 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth when Milwaukee’s Christian Yelich and Ryan Braun echoed Fowler and Pham’s feat. Their home runs on back-to-back pitches from Dominic Leone gave the Brewers a 5-4 victory Tuesday night.
Back-to-back homers on back-to-back pitches, FTW. pic.twitter.com/hGgltsPwxw
— MLB (@MLB) April 4, 2018
According to MLB.com, it was the first game in major league history to begin and end with consecutive home runs.
Tonight’s @Cardinals–@Brewers game is the first in @MLB history to both start AND end with back-to-back homers. pic.twitter.com/hqKjK53KGA
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) April 4, 2018
“I’m just glad we were on the finishing end of that accomplishment,” Braun told reporters after the game. “You want to be on the back end, not the front end.”
The 34-year-old slugger has just three hits this season, but two of them are game-winning homers. Braun’s three-run shot Friday night against Padres’ All-Star closer Brad Hand capped a five-run rally in the ninth that gave the Brewers an 8-6 victory in San Diego.
But younger players stole the home run headlines Tuesday.
Ohtani’s first career home run came in his first at-bat at Angel Stadium. The 23-year-old two-way star drilled a curveball off Cleveland starter Josh Tomlin into the right-center field stands as LA beat the Indians 13-2.
Villanueva went deep three times for the Padres in an 8-4 victory over the Rockies. The 26-year-old third baseman joined Jarrett Parker and Bobby Estalella as the only players in MLB history with three-homer games in their first 14 career games.
Finally, the 28-year-old Gregorious powered the Yankees to an 11-4 win over Tampa Bay with his historic day. His eight RBIs are the most in a single game by a shortstop in team history.
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