Cleveland Indians third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall hit three home runs and knocked in nine runs during Monday night's game against the Texas Rangers, as the Indians cruised to a 17-7 victory. The nine runs batted in match an Indians franchise record for most in a single game, per MLB.com.
Chisenhall had a night most major leaguers only dream of, getting a hit in each of his five at-bats, including the three home runs and a double. The three homers—his fifth, sixth and seventh of 2014—were a career high for Chisenhall, who previously had just one multi-homer game in his career, back in 2011.
Chisenhall's three home runs tied for second most in a game in franchise history, behind the four that Rocky Colavito hit in a June 10, 1959 game against the Baltimore Orioles. His combination of five hits, nine runs batted in and three home runs has never been matched by any player in franchise history, per Jordan Bastian of MLB.com.
The only other Tribe player with nine runs batted in in a single game was Chris James on May 4, 1991 against the Oakland Athletics, per the Indians' official Twitter account. James, a journeyman who played for eight teams in his 10-year career, had four hits in five at-bats that night, with a pair of three-run homers.
According to ESPN's Stats & Info blog, Chisenhall is only the fourth player to have five hits, nine runs batted in and three home runs in a single game since runs batted in became an official stat in 1920. The Cincinnati Reds' Walker Cooper was the first to accomplish the feat in 1949, and Brooklyn Dodgers great Gil Hodges was the second in 1950. The most recent occurrence was almost 39 years ago in June 1975, when former Boston Red Sox outfielder Fred Lynn had five hits in six at-bats, with three home runs and 10 runs batted in.
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