3 Dingers & A Diving Catch: Mookie Betts Has 'Best Night' Of Career
BOSTON (CBS) -- We've seen Mookie Betts do a lot of special things on the diamond during his two-plus seasons with the Red Sox. But we hadn't seen anything like his performance Tuesday night in Baltimore.
Betts did it all during Boston's 6-2 win over the Orioles, clubbing three homers for the first time in his career and capping it all off with a dazzling diving catch in the seventh inning.
With his three dingers, Betts became the first leadoff hitter in Red Sox history to go deep three times in one game since at least 1913. He hit one to each part of the field, including his first career homer to right field -- a solo shot in the seventh inning.
If the three longballs weren't enough, Betts also made an incredible diving catch in right field in the seventh inning, robbing Paul Janish of a bloop hit.
"This is probably the best night," Betts told reporters after the game. "It's the first time I've ever [hit three homers]. I was able to make a play behind Robbie Ross, too, so putting the whole game together, I think it was the best day."
Betts finished the month of May with eight homers, the most he's hit in a single month since he clubbed five round trippers last September. Tuesday night's power surge is nothing surprising for Betts' teammates.
"Every time I see him hit, I think he's going to hit a home run," shortstop Xander Bogaerts said of his teammate. "It's just the presence he has in the batter's box. I just feel like anything you leave over there, he's going to hit it out."
"He's got five tools, man, and he's smart," said David Ortiz. "He's got great hands. He knows about the strike zone really well. He knows the minute that he gets out of it, like we always talk, he can get in trouble. He's so young, man. It's so impressive how he handles his business."
Not even Ortiz, one of Boston's most notorious sluggers in franchise history, has hit three homers in the same game, a feat that has only been accomplished 27 times in a Red Sox uniform. Will Middlebrooks was the last Red Sox player to hit three homers in a game, leaving the Rogers Centre three times in a 13-0 Boston victory.
Betts is up to 12 homers for the season and a ridiculous 40 RBIs out of the leadoff spot. But as the truly gifted and special players usually are, Betts is not satisfied with his 2016 output thus far.
"It feels great, but tomorrow is a new day," he said. "I feel like I haven't been consistent. One day, I'll have a good game and then I'll go 0-for-20... So I'm just trying to put it all together. One game is one game, but we'll try to do it for 15, 20 games."
Adam Jones & Rich Keefe Discuss Mookie's Big Night:
