History was made Friday night. It was some rather obscure history, but it's history nonetheless.
During their win over the Braves (STL 7, ATL 4), the Cardinals had three different players hit pinch-hit home runs. They're the first team in history to have three players come off the bench to go deep in the same game.
Jeremy Hazelbaker, Aledmys Diaz, and Greg Garcia hit the three pinch-hit dingers. All three were hit in the seventh inning or later too. Here's the video:
"When I hit it, honestly, that's what I was thinking about running down to first," said Garcia to ESPN's Mark Saxon after the game. "It was the weirdest thing. I was like, 'Did we just hit three pinch-hit home runs?' That was crazy."
Two pinch-hit home runs in one game has been done numerous times before, but prior to Friday no team ever hit three in one game. The Cardinals as a team had only four pinch-hit home runs during the entire 2015 season.
"We talked through the winter about our bench and how we felt there was a little more thump," said manager Mike Matheny to Saxon. "I don't think those were the three guys we were talking about. But to watch them come in and do something special ... Every time they get in there, it's a big moment for them because they're still establishing themselves."
There have been only five pinch-hit home runs hit around the league this season. The three by the Cardinals on Friday, and two by Tigers DH Victor Martinez. Detroit opened the season with a two-game interleague series in Miami, and V-Mart managed to come off the bench and homer in both games.
