Nick Kurtz delivered a historic performance in Friday’s 15–3 win over the Astros, going 6-for-6 with four home runs, a double, six runs scored, and eight RBI.
Kurtz delivered a performance for the ages in Houston, launching a two-run homer in the second, an RBI double in the fourth, a solo shot in the sixth, another solo blast in the eighth, and capped it off with a three-run homer against position player Cooper Hummel in the ninth. In what may be the greatest single-game showing in major league history — rivaling Shawn Green’s iconic four-homer game in 2002 — Kurtz etched his name into the record books, coming up a few feet shy of a five-homer performance. He became just the 20th player ever to homer four times in a game and the first rookie to do it. He also tied the major league record with 19 total bases. The current front-runner for the American League’s Rookie of the Year is now slashing a ridiculous .305/.374/.686 with 23 homers and 59 RBI on the season.