Major League Baseball won't hold this year's Home Run Derby until July 12, but the Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles served as a handy preview on Saturday. The two teams combined to launch nine home runs as part of a 10-7 Toronto victory. Three players launched multiple shots of their own: Marcus Semien, Cedric Mullins, and Ryan Mountcastle, who recorded the season's seventh three-homer contest.
Mountcastle, 24, entered the game hitting .253/.280/.429 (93 OPS+) with nine home runs on the season. Nevertheless, his three-homer performance is the 28th in Orioles franchise history, and the first since catcher Pedro Severino hit a trio in 2019. (Prior to Severino, the Orioles hadn't had a three-homer game by someone other than Manny Machado since Chris Davis in 2014.)
Mountcastle's first home run had a 105.5 mph exit velocity and traveled 417 feet. His second had a 111.2 mph exit velocity and a 357-foot distance. His third and final, meanwhile, was clocked at 108.1 mph and carried 407 feet, all according to Statcast. Mountcastle later added a single in his fourth and final at-bat.
Ryan Mountcastle joins Nick Markakis (2006) as the only @Orioles rookies to have a 3-HR game. pic.twitter.com/dCY3P1n7KB
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) June 19, 2021
Prior to Mountcastle's hat trick, the feat had been pulled off by Jesse Winker (twice), Miguel Sano, Guerrero Jr., J.D. Martinez, and Ryan McMahon. It's perhaps noting that Martinez's three-homer game also occurred at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
Baltimore's six home runs on Saturday were the third-most recorded by a team this season. Coincidentally, the Blue Jays possess the high water mark, having hit eight against the Boston Red Sox on June 13. The Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves are the only other clubs to homer at least seven times in a game this year.
Unfortunately for the O's, their six homers went to waste. Baltimore's bullpen allowed six runs in the ninth inning and blew the lead. With the loss, the Orioles are now 23-47 on the season. The Blue Jays, conversely, are 34-35. The AL East rivals will wrap up their series on Sunday.
