Buxton’s own kind of triple double, adding inside-the-park HR
Byron Buxton’s contributions to the Twins’ 10-3 victory yesterday over the visiting Diamondbacks included a double, a triple and an inside-the-park home run. Buxton became only the fifth major-leaguer in the 70-plus years since the end of World War II, and the first in 41 years, to squeeze those three types of hits into the same game. Jerry Snyder did it for the Washington Senators in 1956, a young Roger Maris for the Kansas City A’s in 1958, George Altman for the Cubs in 1961, and Al Bumbry for the Orioles at Chicago’s Comiskey Park on Aug. 21, 1976.
According to Phil Miller in the Star Tribune this morning, MLB announced that Buxton’s trip around the bases took a mere 13.85 seconds, the fastest that its StatCast system that was installed in 2015 had ever recorded.
In all, the Twins smashed six home runs in their victory, tying the most home runs in a home game in the history of the franchise, dating to 1901 when the team played in Washington. The Twins connected for six circuit clouts twice at Metropolitan Stadium (in 1964 and 1966) and once earlier this year at Target Field (May 2 against the A’s). Actually, it’s not a surprise that it never happened at Griffith Stadium, the longtime home to the Washington Senators. The field dimensions at old Griffith were so huge that in 1945—a season in which Washington uncharacteristically finished just a game and a half behind the pennant-winning Tigers—the Senators hit exactly one home run—one!—in their 78 home games. And that lone home homer was an inside-the-parker, hit by Joe Kuhel on September 7.
Games when the Twins turned on the power
| Rk | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | PA | HR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1963-08-29 (1) | MIN | WSA | W 14-2 | 49 | 8 |
| 2 | 2001-07-12 | MIN | MIL | W 13-5 | 46 | 7 |
| 3 | 2017-08-18 | MIN | ARI | W 10-3 | 41 | 6 |
| 4 | 2017-05-02 | MIN | OAK | W 9-1 | 38 | 6 |
| 5 | 2016-06-26 | MIN | NYY | W 7-1 | 37 | 6 |
| 6 | 2007-07-06 (2) | MIN | CHW | W 12-0 | 48 | 6 |
| 7 | 2004-04-10 | MIN | DET | W 10-5 | 47 | 6 |
| 8 | 2000-04-09 | MIN | KCR | W 13-7 | 43 | 6 |
| 9 | 1993-08-15 | MIN | OAK | W 12-5 | 44 | 6 |
| 10 | 1966-06-09 | MIN | KCA | W 9-4 | 38 | 6 |
| 11 | 1964-05-14 | MIN | CHW | W 15-7 | 44 | 6 |
| 12 | 1962-04-29 (2) | MIN | CLE | W 7-3 | 41 | 6 |
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58 home runs in one day
Major-league players combined to hit 58 home runs in the 15 games played on Friday, the second-highest total of home runs ever hit on one day in the 142-year history of Major League Baseball. There were 62 home runs hit on July 2, 2002, a day on which 16 games were played. The 58 homers set a record for the most longballs on a day on which 15-or-fewer games were played; the previous record of 57 was set in the 15 games played on April 7, 2000.
This season, there has been an average of 2.54 home runs per game (for both teams combined), which is on target to surpass, rather handily, the all-time record high of 2.34 homers per game, set in 2000.