Cleveland Indians’ third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall became the fourth player since 1920 to have five hits, three home runs and nine RBI in one game. He did this on Monday night in Cleveland’s 17-7 rout of the Texas Rangers.
He joins Walker Cooper, Gil Hodges and Fred Lynn on the small list of players to accomplish this feat. Cooper did it in 1949, as a member of the Cincinnati Reds; Hodges accomplished this feat with the 1950 Brooklyn Dodgers; Lynn’s historic game came in 1975 with the Boston Red Sox, reports ESPN Stats& Info.
Chisenhall’s three homers consisted of a two-run shot in the second, another two-run blast in the fourth and a three-run jack in the eighth. His also hit an RBI single in the first and a double in the sixth that brought in a run.
“I felt good at the plate; it’s just a matter of one at-bat at a time,” Chisenhall said in an interview with Sportstime Ohio. “Things fell into place; the pitching staff did a good job. Hitting is contagious, and we were hitting all night.”
He was not the only Indian hitting, as the team amassed 18 hits. Shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, right fielder Michael Brantley and second baseman Jason Kipnis each amassed three hits. Brantley scored five times, and Kipnis drove in four runs.
Cleveland jumped on top early, scoring in each of the first four innings. Three runs crossed the plate in the first inning and five scored in the second. After one run in the third, three more came in in the fourth.
The Rangers were also producing runs early on, including three in the third and two more in the fourth.
The Indians built the lead up to 13-6 with a run in the sixth inning. A final outpouring of four runs in the top of the eighth put the icing on the cake.
Cleveland reliever Scott Atchison record the win with 1 2/3 scoreless innings after starter T.J. House lasted only 3 1/3 innings, giving up six runs.
Texas starter Nick Martinez did not fare much better, as he survived only two innings and was tagged with eight runs, according to ESPN.
The Indians, who are 9-1 in their last 10 games, have closed the gap in the AL Central and only trail the Detroit Tigers by two games. The Indians open up a two-game set with the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday.
Note: RBI was first recorded as a statistic in 1920.