Rangers utility man Mark Mathias is one of the hottest hitters in the lineup, and during the team's two-game homestand he did something that Texas player had done since 2019.
Mathias hit home runs in three straight at-bats — two on Tuesday and one on Wednesday against Oakland. Per Elias Sports Bureau, he was the first Texas batter to hit home runs in three consecutive plate appearances since Rougned Odor did it on May 16-17, 2019.
Plus, Mathias became the first Rangers right-handed hitter to do it in a decade. The last? None other than Rangers Hall of Fame selection — and future Baseball Hall of Fame selection — Adrián Beltré, who did it on Aug. 22, 2012, in his first three plate appearances.
So how did he do it? Well, there’s the video.
The first home run came in the seventh inning of Tuesday’s game with the Athletics, a two-run shot that scored Marcus Semien and made it a 7-7 game.
The second shot was the first walk-off home run of his career, a solo blast with one out in the bottom of the ninth off Oakland’s Joel Payamps, giving the Rangers an 8-7 win.
The third long ball came in the second inning of Wednesday’s game with Oakland . After playing first base and hitting in the No. 2 spot for Corey Seager, who got an off-night on Tuesday, Mathias slid over to third base and moved down in the order. It didn’t matter. He hit a solo home run, which started a four-run second inning that was capped by a homer by Semien.
In Tuesday’s game, Mathias went 3-for-5 with four RBI and three runs scored. On Wednesday, he went 2-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored. Plus, with an RBI double before his two home runs on Tuesday, and an RBI single following his solo home run on Wednesday, Mathias had five straight at-bats with run-scoring hits.
Entering this weekend’s series with Tampa Bay, Mathias is batting .370/.453/.761/1.214 with five home runs and 16 RBI since joining the Rangers. He’s played in just 15 games with 46 at-bats.
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