Shea Langeliers Sets Record with Three Home Runs in Athletics Victory
Shea Langeliers, Athletics catcher, made history by becoming the fourth catcher in Major League history to hit three home runs in two different games. The feat occurred during the Athletics’ resounding victory over the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night, with a score of 16-7.
Langeliers, who batted first in the order for the first time, started the game with a home run against MacKenzie Gore. Later, he hit another home run at the beginning of the fifth inning, this time against Orlando Ribalta.
The catcher culminated his impressive performance with a third home run at the start of the seventh inning, this time against Andry Lara. With this feat, Langeliers joins Johnny Bench, Gary Carter, and Travis d’Arnaud as the only catchers with two three-home run games in their careers. Previously, he had achieved the same feat on April 9 in a 4-3 victory against Texas.
Langeliers is the only catcher in MLB history to achieve a three-home run game from the leadoff position. His season home run total rises to 22.
In addition to his home runs, the 27-year-old player hit a double in the eighth inning, finishing the game with five hits in six at-bats, three RBIs, four runs scored, and a total of 15 bases reached. Both the hits and runs scored represent career highs, and the total bases equal the most for a catcher in a game since 1900, alongside Walker Cooper (1949) and Wes Westrum (1950).
This outstanding performance comes less than two weeks after his teammate, Nick Kurtz, tied the MLB record by hitting four home runs and reaching 19 total bases in a game against the Houston Astros.
Langeliers and Kurtz are the first pair of teammates since 1900 to record a game with 15 or more total bases in the same season.
The Athletics achieved a total of 24 hits, the most this season. Brent Rooker and JJ Bleday contributed four hits each, marking the first time the Athletics have had three players with four or more hits in a game since 1979.
