HOUSTON (AP) — Nick Kurtz became the first major league rookie to hit four homers in a game, leading the Athletics to a 15-3 victory over the Houston Astros on Friday night.
Kurtz went 6-for-6 with eight RBIs and six runs scored. He’s just the second player in Major League Baseball history to have four homers in a six-hit game, joining Shawn Green of the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 23, 2002 at Milwaukee, and he matched Green’s MLB record with 19 total bases.
It was the first six-hit game for the Athletics since Joe DeMaestri on July 8, 1955 at Detroit.
The 22-year-old also had a single and a double that hit just below the yellow line over the visitor’s bullpen in the fourth inning.
Kurtz singled in the first and his two-run homer in the second put the Athletics ahead 5-0. His solo shot in the sixth made it 10-2. His third homer was his longest, a 414-foot drive into the second deck in the eighth.
Kurtz’s final homer came against outfielder Cooper Hummel, a three-run, opposite-field line drive to the Crawford boxes in left field that made it 15-2.
Kurtz extended his hitting streak to 12 games and his 23 home runs are the most for an A’s rookie since Yoenis Céspedes in 2012 and fourth most in franchise history.
Tyler Soderstrom and Shea Langeliers also homered for the A’s, who had a season high in runs.
Jeffrey Springs (9-7) allowed two runs over six innings. Zack Short hit a two-run homer for Houston in the fifth.
Ryan Gusto (6-4) allowed eight runs on eight hits over 3 1/3 innings.
Key moment
Hummel had allowed one run and retired two batters in the ninth when Kurtz hit a 77 mph, 2-0 pitch for his fourth homer.
Key stat
Kurtz is batting .553 (26 for 47) with nine homers and 20 RBIs during his 12-game hitting streak.
Up next
Houston RHP Hunter Brown (9-4 2.57 ERA) opposes LHP Jacob Lopez (3-6 4.60 ERA) when the series continues Saturday.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
