Athletics rookie Nick Kurtz hits 4 HRs against Astros

Athletics designated hitter Nick Kurtz hit four home runs in his team's 15-3 road win over the Houston Astros on Friday night, becoming the first rookie in major league history to accomplish the feat.

He is the 20th player in big-league history to hit four home runs in a game. The Arizona Diamondbacks' Eugenio Suarez hit four home runs against the Atlanta Braves on April 26 -- three days after Kurtz made his major league debut.

Kurtz's fourth homer came in the ninth inning, a three-run shot off Astros outfielder Cooper Hummel that gave him six hits and eight RBIs on the night. The homer was his 23rd in just his 66th career game.

Kurtz, 22, ended the game 6-for-6. He singled in the first inning, hit a two-run homer in the second, added an RBI double in the fourth, belted solo shots in the sixth and eighth, then connected again in the ninth.

The fourth overall pick in the 2024 draft out of Wake Forest, Kurtz played just 12 games in the minor leagues last year and 21 this year before arriving in the majors.

He didn't homer in his first 16 games but has since been on a power tear. Kurtz is now batting .305 with a 1.060 on-base-plus-slugging percentage that would rank second in the majors if he had made enough plate appearances to qualify.