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For second straight game Mookie Betts leads off game with home run
The 25-game hitting streak is a career high for the shortstop and the second-longest in the majors this season behind the 29-game run of teammate Jackie Bradley Jr. that ended last Thursday against Colorado.
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Boston’s Mookie Betts celebrates after hitting the first of his three home runs during the first inning of Tuesday’s win over the Orioles in Baltimore.
Below is his first-inning home run off Joe Kelly.
Betts’ second homer came after he dodged a fastball that zipped over his head, prompting home plate umpire Doug Eddings to issue warnings to both teams.
Only two months into the current season, these Red Sox are no strangers to eye-catching offensive achievements. The first couple of at-bats, you’re not really putting pressure on yourself, but as the game goes on you know your time is running out so you try and focus a little bit more, try and put up a good at-bat and see what happens.
After Clay Buchholz (3-6) walked Chris Davis and Mark Trumbo, Matt Wieters hit a grounder to second base. In 28 games, Boston hit.305 and averaged 6.5 runs with 46 homers, 68 doubles and eight triples. He had his worst start of the year in that game, giving up six runs (three earned) in just 1.2 innings while walking three batters.
Betts connected again in the second inning, lined out to second base in the fourth and hit a bases-empty homer in the seventh off Dylan Bundy. With the Red Sox now up 5-0, Eduardo Rodriguez had an extremely comfortable lead in his first start of the season. The right-hander allowed one of his own to score, too, but he came back in the eighth and pitched a 1-2-3 inning.
For good measure, Betts completed his first career three-homer game by powering a solo shot to the bleachers off righty Dylan Bundy in the seventh. Hyun Soo Kim and Pedro Alvarez each had three hits, and Chris Davis drew four walks to help Baltimore secure its third victory in 10 games. Jimenez started at Boston on April 13 and was charged with four runs on six hits and four walks in five innings to suffer a loss.
The tone for this one was established early, when Gausman became the first Baltimore pitcher to allow back-to-back homers to start a game since Rodrigo Lopez in June 2006.
Bogaerts was hitless in three at-bats before lining a single to center field off reliever Brad Brach. Every game it seems like they are jumping out to a one or two-run lead in the top of the first inning.
To put Betts’ accomplishments into perspective, only two previous Red Sox players have ever hit five homers in two game – one was a Hall of Famer (Carl Yastrzesmki) and the other performed like a Hall of Famer for his first seven or seasons with the Red Sox (Nomar Garciaparra). His only mistakes were Jonathan Lucroy’s home run leading off the second and Ryan Braun’s RBI double in the sixth.
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Mookie Betts had to admit that he has never been better.