The Houston Astros broke an MLB record in Tuesday’s match against the Boston Red Sox. The Astros hit five home runs in a single inning. In total, the team recorded nine runs in the match. The game ended with Houston winning 13-4 over Boston at Fenway Park.
“Just some days you’re swinging it,” said Astros manager Dusty Baker. “It was our day today.”
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The match
The game started well for the Red Sox, recording the first run in the first inning. They also outed three batters in the first inning alone. Then came the second inning with Nathan Eovaldi as the pitcher.
“I had the quick first inning and tried to do the same thing in the second inning, and they didn’t miss,” said Eovaldi.
The Astros avenged the outs of the first innings by leading 9-1 runs in the first half of the second inning.
Yordan Alvarez is the first to hit a homer, batting 97.7 mph fastball into the Green Monster seats. The second was hit by Kyle Tucker, whose batted ball flew into the Astros’ bullpen. The third was Jeremy Peña, who hit his seventh home run in the Major League.
“I knew I hit it hard. I didn’t know if it was hard enough to get over the Monster,” Peña said. “We have a great ball club and we know that. We know we can do damage.”
The fourth home run was hit by Michael Brantley, who sent the ball into the right-field stands. Yuli Gurriel batted the last home run, marking the team’s achievement of hitting five home runs in a single inning.
The Astros scored an additional four runs in the fourth inning, totaling 13 runs as the game ended. Adding to the one run in the first inning, the Red Sox scored two more runs in the third and one run in the fifth inning, totaling four runs in the whole match.
The record
The feat had only been achieved seven times in the history of the MLB, with the first occurrence dating back to the early 20th century. The first team to hit five home runs in an inning was the San Francisco Giants on June 6, 1939. Then came the Philadelphia Phillies in 1949, the Giants again in 1961, and the Minnesota Twins in 1966.
The record was not made again until April 22, 2006, when the Milwaukee Brewers recorded their five-homer-inning. A decade later in 2017, the Washington Nationals were put on the list. Then the New York Yankees followed suit in 2020.
Previously in 2004, the Astros hit four home runs in one inning when they played the Cincinnati Reds. The players who hit them were Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell, Lance Berkman, and Mike Lamb.
The Astros are currently leading the American League West ranking at 24-13 with 9-14 home and 15-9 away. They won eight out of the last 10 games they played. Meanwhile, the Red Sox are currently fourth in the AL East and are at 14-22 with 5-10 at home and 9-12 away. They won four out of the last 10 games they played.
The Astros will play the Texas Rangers from Thursday, May 19 to Sunday, May 22 at Minute Maid Park in Houston. The Red Sox’s next games are against the Seattle Mariners at Fenway Park on the same dates as the Astros.