Cardinals' Baez bashes record three homers in MLB debut

Joshua Baez of the St. Louis Cardinals runs the bases after hitting his record third home run, the most by any player in his Major League Baseball debut, in a victory over the Chicago Cubs (Jessie Alcheh) St. Louis rookie Joshua Baez smacked three home runs, the most ever by any player in his Major League Baseball debut, as the Cardinals beat the host Chicago Cubs 8-4 on Saturday. The 23-year-old Dominican-American right-fielder made a debut for the ages at historic Wrigley Field, the oldest National League ballpark dating to 1914. Baez smashed the first pitch he saw in MLB, a 93.4-mph fastball from Cubs left-hander Matthew Boyd, for a two-run homer into center field that gave St. Louis a 3-0 lead. In his second time at bat, Baez blasted a changeup pitch for a solo homer down the left field line in the fourth inning to lift the Cardinals ahead 4-3. That made Baez only the ninth player in MLB history with two homers in his regular-season debut, and just the second since 1900 to homer on his first two MLB at bats after Bob Nieman in 1951. And Baez was not yet done. In the sixth inning, Baez homered again off Boyd for a 6-3 St. Louis lead to put himself alone in MLB history. Baez flew out to left field in the eighth inning but finished 3-for-4 at the plate with three homers and five runs batted in during his first MLB contest. Baez was set to play Friday for Memphis, the Cardinals' top developmental club, when he was told he was going to the top club. "It was kind of like a shocking moment, just because you don't know when it's going to happen," Baez said. Baez recalled his late father, Jose Manuel, who died in 2023. "His dream was to play in the big leagues," Baez said. "The only promise that I made to him was that I was going to be able to do that for him. "He's not here with us, but he's here in spirit, and I know he's so proud of me." js/acb