Shea Langeliers Makes History

Prior to Tuesday, Langeliers had never batted leadoff in an MLB game. The 26 year old backstop had been primarily used as a cleanup hitter due to his power profile. But with his bat heating up and the A’s searching for offensive consistency, Kotsay wanted to maximize his plate appearances.

“We’re just looking to get off to a quick start, hopefully,” Kotsay said pregame. Well that couldn’t have worked any better as Langeliers made history.

Langeliers wasted no time launching a solo home run off Nationals All-Star MacKenzie Gore on the fourth pitch of the game. Langeliers wasn’t done after the first inning. He homered again in the fifth and seventh innings, bringing his career tally of three home run games to two. He nearly joined an even more exclusive club in the eighth, just missing a fourth homer and settling for a double. The Athletics came up one batter short of getting him a seventh plate appearance in the ninth.

Final stat line:

• 5-for-6
• 3 HR
• 4 RBI
• 4 runs
• 1 double

It was a performance that would headline almost any box score if not for what teammate Nick Kurtz did just two weeks prior, going 6-for-6 with 4 home runs, a double, 6 runs, and 8 RBI in one of the greatest offensive games in MLB history.