Adam Duvall off to a hot start with the Red Sox

Adam Duvall of Louisville, Kentucky has got off to an unbelievable start to the season with the Boston Red Sox. In three games against the Baltimore Orioles over the weekend at Fenway Park, he had eight hits in 14 at bats for a batting average of .571.

However, what was most noteworthy was the fact that of Duvall’s eight hits, six came on extra bases. He had three doubles, two home runs and one triple. Duvall also scored six runs and had eight runs batted in, 19 total bases, an on base percentage of .600, and a slugging percentage of 1.357. Duvall leads Major League Baseball in runs scored, doubles, runs batted in, and total bases, and leads the American League in hits, triples and home runs.

Notable Saturday

In the Red Sox 9-8 win over the Orioles on April 1, Duvall, who played centerfield, shined. He became only the fourth player in Major League Baseball history to have four extra base hits, including a walk-off home run in a game. Duvall had a leadoff triple in the second inning, a two-run home run in the second inning to close a 7-1 Baltimore lead to 7-3, a RBI double in the seventh inning to close an 8-5 Baltimore lead to 8-6, and a game-winning two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Red Sox a 9-8 win after they were trailing 8-7.

Who were the other three?

According to ESPN, the other three players to have four extra base hits including a walk-off home run in a game were George Brett of the Kansas City Royals, Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds and Ryan Schimpf of the San Diego Padres. Brett, a third baseman from Glen Dale, West Virginia, had one double, one triple, and two home runs in a 5-4 Royals win over the Orioles in 16 innings on May 28, 1979. Votto, a first baseman from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, had one double, and three home runs in a 9-6 Reds win over the Washington Nationals on May 13, 2012. Votto’s fourth hit was a ninth inning grand slam in the bottom of the ninth. Schimpf, a second baseman from New Orleans, Louisiana, had two doubles and two home runs in a 7-4 Padres win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in a game that went into 10 innings. Interestingly, Schimpf only batted .195 in his three-year Major League career.