Shortstop WIlly Adames hit his 29th home run of the season in the Milwaukee Brewers‘ 9–3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday.
However, the first-inning home run off pitcher Andre Pallante was interesting for a variety of reasons, putting the seven-year veteran in some very intriguing company.
With Monday’s deep shot, Adames has hit a homer in five consecutive games. That tied a Brewers record with Jeromy Burnitz and Eric Thames. Five consecutive games with a home run also ties the record for most by a shortstop since 1900, according to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, which puts him in a group including Alex Rodriguez, Corey Seager and Trea Turner.
The home run was also Adames’ 13th three-run homer of the season. Ken Griffey Jr. is the only other player in MLB history to have that many three-run shots in a single campaign, according to the Associated Press. (Sammy Sosa, Tino Martinez and Roy Campanella each had 12 three-run homers in one season.)
“It’s an honor, just to be right next to a legend and an icon like him,” Adames said following the game. “Seeing that reality today is just incredible.”
Brewers manager Pat Murphy joked afterward that “it’s almost shocking” when Adames doesn’t hit a home run with two runners on this season.
If Adames hits home runs in each of Milwaukee’s next three games, he’ll also join Griffey as one of three players to hit homers in eight consecutive games.
Oh, and Adames hit his 29th home run on his 29th birthday.
Adames is batting .255 with an .812 OPS for the NL Central-leading Brewers, who hold a 9 1/2 game lead over the Chicago Cubs with an 81–57 record. He’s started all 138 games at shortstop and if he does so for Milwaukee’s remaining 24 games, he’ll become the fifth player in franchise history to start every game in a season.
That’s a considerable amount of achievements for Adames to take into free agency, as he’s set to hit the open market for the first time after the season.