Rookie Joshua Báez homers in first three MLB at-bats as Cardinals beat Cubs 8-4

Joshua Báez became the first player in Major League Baseball history to hit home runs in his first three at-bats, doing so at Wrigley Field as the St Louis Cardinals defeated the Chicago Cubs 8-4 on Saturday. Báez homered on the first pitch he saw in the majors and finished the game with three long balls.

The 23-year-old left fielder had been called up from Triple-A Memphis earlier in the day and drove in five runs in the outing. Blaze Jordan and Alec Burleson each added solo home runs for St Louis, and the Cardinals’ victory came a day after they dropped the opener of the three-game series.

Báez’s first big-league homer was a two-run shot that sailed into the left-center field bleachers in the first inning. Michael Conforto responded for the Cubs with a three-run homer in the second, which tied the game at 3-all.

All three of Báez’s homers came off Matthew Boyd (8-2). Báez led off the fourth by sending a full-count pitch down the left-field line for a homer, then went the opposite way in the sixth for another two-run shot.

Michael McGreevy (5-9) took the win, allowing three runs — all unearned — on five hits and two walks while striking out six over his first six innings; it was his first victory since 8 July. Boyd was charged with seven runs on five hits and three walks in 5 1/3 innings and struck out two, with Jordan’s solo homer ending his day; Burleson’s homer came off Colin Rea in the eighth.

The Cubs had won nine of 11 entering the game. Báez is the first St Louis player to hit a homer in his first career plate appearance since Lane Thomas in June 2019.

The 8-4 result was the Cardinals’ victory in the second game of the three-game series against the Cubs.