It was a week full of doubleheaders as all the teams that lost games due to the COVID-19 postponements are now making up those games. With only three weeks left in the season, every game counts, and all games need to be made up. This past week had the usual long ball happenings. Grand slams, walk-off homers, game-winners, multi-homer games, and some more rookies hitting their first career bombs. There were 263 home runs hit in the week bringing the season total to 1,572. Let’s take a look at this week in home runs for the week of August 31st.
Three Homer Games
The week featured three-homer games as four players accomplished were able to round the bases three times. On Tuesday we had two players accomplish this. Marcell Ozuna of the Atlanta Braves hit three home runs in Fenway Park against the Boston Red Sox. Alex Dickerson of the San Francisco Giants matched Ozuna later on in the night in a game against the Colorado Rockies. The next day we had another Brave hit three home runs in a game. Adam Duvall once again victimized the Red Sox. On Saturday Eugenio Suarez of the Cincinnati Reds slugged his three homers against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Multi Homer Games
Aside from the four players who had three-homer games, 13 players had multi-homer games. In the National League, we had Juan Soto of the Washington Nationals, Brad Miller of the St. Louis Cardinals, Garrett Hampson of the Rockies, Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Braves, Ian Happ of the Chicago Cubs, and Corey Seager of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
In the American League, there were seven players who had multi-homer games. DJ LeMahieu of the New York Yankees, Renato Nunez, and DJ Stewart of the Baltimore Orioles, Mike Brosseau, and Randy Arozarena of the Tampa Bay Rays, Tyler Naquin of the Cleveland Indians, and George Springer of the Houston Astros.
Welcome to the Show
Five players had their first Major League home runs of their careers. It’s always a special moment for every rookie despite playing in front of empty houses. The five players were Ke’Bryan Hayes of the Pirates, Andres Gimenez of the New York Mets, Luis Campusano of the San Diego Padres, Daulton Varsho of the Arizona Diamondbacks, and Sergio Alcantara of the Detroit Tigers.
Game Winning Home Runs
It was a light week for game-winning home runs. At least from the week before. But we still had five game-winners with one being a walk-off. The lone walk-off home run was hit by Pete Alonso of the Mets who hit a two-run 10th inning homer to beat the Yankees 9-7. It was the second straight week where the Mets had a walk-off home run to defeat the Yankees.
Starling Marte his a walk-off homer leading the Miami Marlins to a 3-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. Teoscar Hernandez hit a game-winning three-run 10th inning home run leading the Blue Jays to a 6-2 win over the Red Sox. AJ Pollack hit a two-run game-winning bomb leading the Dodgers to a 10-6 victory over the Rockies. Anthony Rendon hit a three-run homer leading the Los Angeles Angels to a 7-6 win over the Seattle Mariners.
Milestone Home Runs
It has been a great season for milestone home runs and with three weeks we could see some more historic bombs. But let’s start with the best player in the game hitting a magical mark. Mike Trout hit his 300th career home run against the Houston Astros. Nelson Cruz hit his 414th home run tying Darrell Evans for 54th all time. Robinson Cano hit his 331st career home run tying Hank Greenberg for 110th all time. Justin Upton hit his 303rd career home run passing up Evan Longoria for 147th all time.
Get the Mustard and Rye Bread
Oh, we all love the grand slam home run. There is no other play in baseball where more runs can be scored. Even without fans in the stands, it is still the most exciting play in the game. We had two grand salami’s this past week. Paul DeJong of the Cardinals hit a slammer against the Pirates. Kevin Pillar of the Rockies did his damage against the Dodgers.
Weekly Home Run Leaders
For the week, three players hit five home runs. Those players were Adam Duvall, Eugenio Suarez, and Marcell Ozuna. It’s not a coincidence that all three of these players had three-homer games. Keston Hiura and Ronald Acuna Jr. had four rounding out the top five. The team with the most home runs for the week really ran away from the pack. The Braves hit 20 homers which were eight more than the second-place teams. The Mets and Red Sox each hit 12 round-trippers. The Astros, Giants, Dodgers, Orioles, Rays, and Reds each had 11.
Season Home Run Leaders
Mike Trout and Fernando Tatis Jr. lead the majors with 15 home runs. Teoscar Hernandez is next with 14. Marcell Ozuna, Nelson Cruz, Jose Abreu, Mookie Betts, and Luke Voit each have 13. The Dodgers lead the league with 79 home runs. The Padres and Chicago White Sox are next with 71. The Braves have 67 and the Reds and Blue Jays are tied with 64.
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