Sunday afternoon in Toronto, the red-hot Red Sox blew out the Blue Jays (BOS 15, TOR 1) for their fourth straight win. That hot streak combined with the Yankees crashing back to Earth has Boston atop the AL East.
The Red Sox were led Sunday by, well, their leadoff hitter. Mookie Betts went 4 for 6 with two home runs in the game, driving in eight total runs. Here are those 8 RBI:
Driving in eight runs is pretty darn rare. Only 125 players in history have had an 8 RBI game, and among those 125 players you will not find all-time greats like David Ortiz and Albert Pujols. Those two are among the many players who never drove in eight runs in a single game.
Betts, however, has now done it twice. He had an 8 RBI game against the Diamondbacks last August. He is the 12th player in history with multiple 8 RBI games. Here's the list:
- Three 8 RBI games (3) : Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig, Dave Kingman
- Two 8 RBI games (8): Jason Bay, Nelson Cruz, Joe DiMaggio, Nomar Garciaparra, Gil Hodges, Jim Northrup, George Selkirk, Jim Spencer
Betts is the ninth player with exactly two 8 RBI games in his career. Considering he is still only 24, he has plenty of time left to rack up more 8 RBI games.