Sunday marks the 32nd birthday for Blue Jays outfielder Melvin Upton, Jr. and he celebrated by hitting a home run off Indians Cy Young contender Corey Kluber. It was the 19th of the season for the elder Upton, who hadn't hit more than 12 in a season since back in 2012 for the Rays.
Of course, Justin Upton had a little more fun on his brother's birthday. Several minutes after Melvin's shot, Justin put this one way into the stands:
That's a three-run shot, giving Justin Verlander a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the third.
Next time Justin came to the plate, he found himself in a similar situation and put up a similar result:
Justin's having a pretty sub-par year, especially off the heels of signing a six-year, $132.75 million deal in the offseason. He's also been notoriously streaky through much of his career. Perhaps a two-homer, six-RBI game on Sunday gets him hot. The Tigers entered Sunday 3 1/2 games back of the second AL wild card spot and have a pretty easy schedule moving forward.
In all, though, it's a pretty nice coincidence to see three Upton homers on Melvin's birthday. The "happy birthday" phone call later Sunday should be a fun one.
