Astros, Reds rookie sluggers rewrite baseball history with three-homer games
The rookies are taking over Major League Baseball.
We’ve heard all the buzz surrounding Pete Alonso, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Fernando Tatis Jr., just to name a few.
On Saturday, it was Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros and Aristides Aquino of the Cincinnati Reds who rewrote the history books by becoming the first pair of rookie sluggers to each hit three home runs on the same day.
And that tidbit was just the tip of the iceberg.
Some records were equaled, and other records were broken as result of the respective barrages. We’re here to break it all down.
Alvarez passes Hall of Famers
The Astros lineup against the Baltimore Orioles pitching staff is the ultimate mismatch in MLB. Baltimore entered play Saturday having allowed a league-high 234 home runs, which is 34 more than the next closest team. The Astros added six more to that total in a 23-2 victory.
Alvarez went back-to-back with Alex Bregman in the first inning, before launching a grand slam in the seventh and a two-run blast off outfielder Stevie Wilkerson in the ninth.
The seven RBIs give Alvarez 51 in his 45 MLB games. That moved him past Hall of Famers Ted Williams and Joe Dimaggio for the best start to a career.
The stat @ATTSportsNetSW just posted on @YordanAlvarez2 :
Most RBI in 1st 45 MLB games:
Yordan Alvarez 51
Ted Williams 47
Joe DiMaggio 47
Albert Pujols 46
(Since 1920)— Adam Wexler (@KPRC2AdamW) August 11, 2019
The 22-year-old designated hitter is up to 17 home runs. His presence has made Houston’s already dangerous lineup into a nightmare for opposing pitchers. Saturday’s 23-run output was a franchise record.
Yasiel who?
As for Reds rookie Aristides Aquino, he’s making fans forget about Yasiel Puig in a hurry.
The 25-year-old outfielder launched home runs in each of his first three at-bats during Saturday’s 10-1 win against the Chicago Cubs, giving him seven already in his first 10 major league games.
Only one other player in the modern era — Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story — can make that claim.
Aquino is 3 for 3 with 3 HR's and now has tied Trevor Story for most home runs in a player's first 10 games. He has 7
— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) August 11, 2019
Aquino accomplished another more obscure first in the Reds dominant win.
Aristides Aquino of the @Reds is the first rookie in MLB history to homer 3 times in the first 4 innings of a game.#BornToBaseball
— Stats By STATS (@StatsBySTATS) August 11, 2019
The hot-hitting slugger hit his home runs in three consecutive innings. He took Cubs starter Kyle Hendrick deep with solo shots in the second and third innings. He added a third solo blast off reliever Dillon Maples in the fourth inning. He has five home runs in the first three games of Cincinnati’s series against the Cubs, with one more to come on Sunday afternoon.
Aquino was inserted into the lineup on Aug. 1, two days after the Reds traded Puig to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for Trevor Bauer in a three-team deal that also included the San Diego Padres. Prior to that, he’d only had one major league at-bat — a strikeout against the San Francisco Giants.
With MLB hitters on pace to shatter the single-season home run record, some of these usually notable home run accomplishments are slowly but surely losing their luster. But for one night, Alvarez and Aquino managed to stand out.
More from Yahoo Sports:
