CHICAGO (AP) 鈥� Joshua B谩ez smashed the first pitch he saw in the majors about 450 feet, then flashed a grin to the St. Louis dugout as he began his home run trot.
鈥淭here was a calmness and a smile, like, 鈥業鈥檓 here,鈥欌�� Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 rare for me to pick my head up to enjoy parts of it. He didn鈥檛 exactly give us an option but to actually take a step back and enjoy the heck out of what was going on there.鈥�
There has never been a show quite like it.
B谩ez became the first player to hit a home run in each of his first three at-bats in the majors, leading the Cardinals to an on Saturday.
Called up from Triple-A Memphis before the game, B谩ez had 30 members of his family in attendance at Wrigley Field. The traveling party, which included his mother, Yris, in spite of rain.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just unreal,鈥� the 23-year-old B谩ez said. 鈥淭o not only get a hit, but three home runs? It鈥檚 crazy.鈥�
He did it with flair, too. The first came on the first pitch he saw from Matthew Boyd and landed an estimated 449 feet away in the bleachers in left-center. The left fielder’s next at-bat ended with a solo shot down the left-field line and the third, on his ensuing at-bat, went the opposite way, giving him five RBIs.
Major League Baseball said B谩ez was the first player in modern baseball history to hit three home runs in his debut. The league cannot say with certainty whether the feat happened before 1901 due to a lack of game logs.
鈥淗e hit three different pitches for home runs. He had a great game. He beat us for sure,鈥� Cubs manager Craig Counsell said.
B谩ez showed plenty of power in the minors this season. When he was called up, he was leading all Triple-A hitters with 34 home runs, including four multihomer games.
He鈥檚 the ninth player to make his major league debut for the Cardinals this season.
B谩ez also is the 11th St. Louis player to homer in his first career at-bat (the last was Lane Thomas in 2019) and sixth in club history to homer on the first pitch. Former pitcher Adam Wainwright last did it in 2006.
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