WATCH: Leadoff hitter Mookie Betts sets Red Sox record by homering three times
Betts is the first leadoff hitter in franchise history to pull off a hat trick
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1 min read
Mookie Betts had a landmark night.
Betts homered three times in his team's 6-2 win over the Orioles, including blasts in the first and second innings. As if that isn't enough, he accomplished a number of other achievements.
Most notably, Betts hit the first opposite-field home-run -- hereby called an oppo boppo -- of his big-league career. Coincidentally, it gave him a home run to each field on the night:
Third homer of the game for Mookie Betts. This one to right field. First went to center, second went to left. Wow.
— Scott Lauber (@ScottLauber) June 1, 2016
The other cool piece of trivia from Betts' evening? He became the first Red Sox since Will Middlebrooks (in April 2013) to homer three times, and the first Red Sox leadoff hitter to ever homer thrice in a game -- and, it turns out, the first leadoff hitter in baseball to do it in a few years:
Mokie Betts is the 22nd player to homer three times while batting leadoff. Last was Melvin Upton in 2012. No Red Sox player had done it.
— Andrew Simon (@AndrewSimonMLB) June 1, 2016
Between Betts, Xander Bogaerts, and Jackie Bradley Jr., the Red Sox have a glut of talented, productive young hitters. Must be nice.
