San Diego Padres pitcher Craig Stammen just became the answer to a trivia question. And in this case, that is definitely not a good thing.
You see, Stammen had allowed just three homers on 1,167 pitches during the entirety of the 2018 MLB season, per ESPN Stats & Info. On Sunday against the Washington Nationals, he allowed four home runs in the span of seven pitches.
And he did so in back-to-back-to-back-to-back fashion. Ouch.
After a season filled with late-game disappointment, the Nats decided to make the 8th inning their inning with four consecutive big flies off Stammen en route to a 5-2 win to improve to 30-35 on the season.
Howie Kendrick homered.SEE. YOU. LATER.Trea Turner homered.SEE. YOU. LATER.Adam Eaton homered.SEE. YOU. LATER.Anthony Rendon homered.SEE. YOU. LATER.BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK! pic.twitter.com/LYiJL0phqp
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) June 9, 2019After getting seven solid innings from Stephen Strasburg, fresh off the 9-year-anniversary of his big league debut, the Nationals needed a run to put him in-line for the win. And allowing just one run on six hits while striking out six is a quality start, it wouldn't be as sweet if it went down as a no-decision.
After Yan Gomes grounded out to start the inning, Howie Kendrick hit his 11th HR of the year to give the Nationals a lead.
-- THIS IS HOWIE TAKE THE LEAD IN THE 8TH! --TOP 8 // #Nats 2, Padres 1 pic.twitter.com/lcGzHJGu4c
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) June 9, 2019And then Trea Turner said, "Hey, let's have a little dinger derby!"
AND THIS IS HOWIE GO BACK-TO-BACK!TOP 8 // #Nats 3, Padres 1 pic.twitter.com/pSLxiLkwTy
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) June 9, 2019And then Adam Eaton followed suit.
-- AND THIS IS HOWIE GO BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK! --TOP 8 // #Nats 4, Padres 1 pic.twitter.com/DeepGJKYe4
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) June 9, 2019And then... Anthony Rendon, too.
-- AND THIS IS HOWIE GO BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK! --TOP 8 // #Nats 5, Padres 1 pic.twitter.com/CiPGlDES33
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) June 9, 2019And then it was dugout dance party time!
-- DUGOUT DANCE PARTY--FINAL // #Nats 5, Padres 2 pic.twitter.com/rCQSujwMtq
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) June 9, 2019How far were all those dingers? In a word: far.
1639 feet of home runs in the 8th! (Thanks to our crew for that info) --
— Alex Chappell (@ACorddry) June 9, 2019Kendrick's went 421 feet, Turner's 425, Eaton's 402, but the fourth homer from Rendon traveled only 391. (Sorry, Tony.)
The Nats went back-to-back-to-back-to-back for the second time in franchise history, after Brian Goodwin, Wilmer Difo, Bryce Harper, and Ryan Zimmerman took the Milwaukee Brewers deep in consecutive at-bats on July 27, 2017. This means Washington is the first team in MLB history do hit four-straight long balls on multiple occasions.
Goodwin. Difo. Harper. Zimmerman. Out. Rendon.Four in a row, five in the frame. Absurd: https://t.co/rDHFBqX3HI pic.twitter.com/S9qfGSUDVN
— MLB (@MLB) July 27, 2017Follow Ben Krimmel and 106.7 The Fan on Twitter.
