It was one of those perfect, historic nights for Adolis García on Saturday as he slugged three home runs in his five hits and added eight runs as the Texas Rangers dismantled the Oakland Athletics 18-3.
Each homer was projected at 400+ feet, combining for an incredible 1,252 feet of home run distance. It capped the Rangers’ dominant night, after they lost the series opener 5-4 on Friday, and marked a career-best performance for García as well as the first eight RBI game by a Ranger since Nelson Cruz more than a decade ago.
“It was an incredible night for me,” García said through interpreter Raul Cardenas, according to MLB.com. “I didn’t expect something like this to happen, but I’m really blessed and thankful for it.
“I was just looking for certain pitches, in a certain zone. I wasn’t trying to do too much and not overthinking it, just trying to make good contact.”
It was an astonishing night for the right fielder. He hit a two-run home run in the first, letting it fly high into the crowd to tie the score, was hit by a pitch in the second, then hit another couple of two-run homers in the third and fifth.
And that was all only by the bottom of the fifth inning. García still had two opportunities to match the major league record for home runs in a game, but his fourth hit rolled to the wall for a double followed by another double.
Those hits still made history as he became the first player in American League history to finish a game with three home runs and two doubles, per MLB Stats, and the fourth to reach the landmark in Major League history.
“I wanted to hit the home run [in the last at-bat], but a double is just as good,” Garcia added. “I’ll take it.”
Such was the Rangers’ dominance that eight of their nine starters reached base at least once and Josh Jung extended his hit streak to 10 games.
“I’ve been fortunate to manage great players,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said, according to MLB.com.
“I will say I had a player that was similar with the way he plays, with the joy that he plays with, and that was Pablo Sandoval. He hit three home runs in the World Series. They just love baseball and they play the game the way you want them to play. They play with passion. They love being out there, and they’re smiling all the time. That’s Adolis.”