Mookie Betts' 8 RBIs in leadoff spot tie MLB record

ByABC News
July 2, 2017, 6:05 PM

— -- Mookie Betts had eight RBIs on Sunday in the Boston Red Sox's 15-1 rout of the Toronto Blue Jays, tying a major league record for RBIs in a game by a leadoff hitter, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

Only five players have recorded eight RBIs in a game from the leadoff spot since 1920, when RBIs became an official statistic.

Betts was 4-for-6 with two home runs and three runs scored.

"When you get to the plate, you're just expecting a good pitch to hit and you're ready for it,'' Betts said. "Today I was just more ready than other days.''

It was the second multihomer game of the season for Betts, who also hit two at Philadelphia on June 14.

Ronnie Belliard was the most recent leadoff hitter to record eight RBIs in a game, in 2003 for the Colorado Rockies.

The other players to have eight RBIs in a game from the leadoff spot were Jim Northrup in 1973 for the Detroit Tigers, Bill Glynn in 1954 for the Cleveland Indians and Augie Bergamo in 1945 for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Sunday marked Betts' second eight-RBI game in his career (He had eight RBIs against Arizona on Aug. 14, 2016). He joins Nomar Garciaparra as the only players in Red Sox history to have two career eight-RBI games.

Betts and the Seattle Mariners' Nelson Cruz are the only active players with two eight-RBI games in their careers.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.