Nick Kurtz of the Athletics became the first rookie in Major League Baseball history to hit four home runs in a game, part of a spectacular Friday night for the 22-year-old that will go down as one of the greatest offensive displays the sport has seen.
Kurtz also matched the MLB record with 19 total bases in the 15-3 triumph against the Astros in Houston.
“It’s arguably the best game I’ve ever watched from a single player,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. “This kid continues to have jaw-dropping moments.”
Kurtz didn’t make an out all night, going deep in the second, sixth, eighth and ninth innings. He also doubled — a 381-foot drive that would have been out in six major league ballparks — and singled on his 6-for-6 night to equal Shawn Green, who had four homers, six hits and 19 total bases for the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 23, 2002 at Milwaukee.
Kurtz and Green are the only players with six hits in a four-homer game.
“It’s hard to think about this day being kind of real, it still feels like a dream,” Kurtz said in a postgame television interview. “So it’s pretty remarkable. I’m kind of speechless. Don’t really know what to say.”
It was the 20th four-homer game in major league history and second this season. Arizona’s Eugenio Suárez did it on April 26 against Atlanta. No player has ever hit five home runs in a game.
Kurtz finished with eight RBIs and six runs scored.
The 6-foot-5, 22-year-old slugger has 23 homers in 66 games this season. The fourth pick in last year’s amateur draft out of Wake Forest, he made his major league debut April 23 and hit his first homer May 13.
He is the youngest player with a four-homer game. Pat Seerey of the Chicago White Sox was 25 when he homered four times on July 18, 1948.
“This is the first time my godparents have been here, so they probably have to come in the rest of the year,” Kurtz said. “My parents flew in today. They’ve been here a bunch, but it was cool to have some family here for that.”
On Friday, Kurtz homered off each of the Astros’ four pitchers: Ryan Gusto, Nick Hernandez, Kaleb Ort and outfielder Cooper Hummel, who worked the ninth with the game out of hand. His longest drive was his third, a 414-foot solo shot off Ort in the eighth.
For his fourth homer, Kurtz hit an opposite-field line drive to the Crawford Boxes in left field on a 77 mph, 2-0 pitch from Hummel. The three-run shot made it 15-2.
“With a positional player on the mound, I’m just trying to move the ball forward,” Kurtz said. “You don’t want to be the guy that strikes out. That’s only my second at bat ever off a positional player, so I don’t know. Just trying to move the ball forward and get something that I can touch, and I hit another one.”
Kurtz’s double in the fourth inning hit just below the yellow line over the visitor’s bullpen, narrowly missing what would have been a fifth homer.
“Everybody was just like, laughing,” A’s shortstop Jacob Wilson said. “How is he doing it? This is not normal. He’s playing a different sport than us right now. It’s not baseball, it’s just T-ball what he’s doing right now.”
With the baseballs from his last two homers inside a plastic bag at his locker, Kurtz signed scorecards from all four A’s broadcasters and a lineup card. One of the scorecards and a bat were bound for the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Kurtz has been the best hitter in the majors in July, ranking first in batting average (.425), on-base percentage (.494), slugging percentage (1.082), runs (22), doubles (13), homers (11) and RBIs (27).
He extended his hitting streak to 12 games, and his 23 home runs are the most for an A’s rookie since Yoenis Céspedes in 2012 and fourth most in franchise history.
Kurtz entered Friday as a -325 favorite at ESPN BET to win American League Rookie of the Year. His odds moved to -2500 after Friday night.
Information from ESPN Research and The Associated Press was used in this report.
DUBLIN — Rocco Becht passed for two touchdowns and ran for another score, helping No. 22 Iowa State beat No. 17 Kansas State24-21 in the Aer Lingus Classic on Saturday.
Becht was 14-for-28 for 183 yards. He found Dominic Overby for a 23-yard TD in the first quarter and passed to Brett Eskildsen for a 24-yard score in the third quarter.
With 2:26 to go, Iowa State went for it on fourth-and-3 at the Kansas State 16-yard line. Becht found Carson Hansen for 15 yards and iced the game.
“He called a great play, he gave me two plays and let me decide and I knew we were going to have a chance to get it,” Becht said “We’ve worked on it in practice and it’s been working for us and we’re confident with it and I have trust in my guys.”
The Cyclones (1-0, 1-0 Big 12) opened a 24-14 lead in the fourth quarter after a turnover on downs by Kansas State at its own 30-yard line. Becht finished the short drive with a 7-yard touchdown run with 6:38 left.
Avery Johnson passed for 273 yards and two touchdowns for Kansas State (0-1, 0-1). He also had a 10-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
“I mean that’s the thing, regardless of the outcome we have 11 games to play,” Kansas State coach Chris Klieman said. “We have our back against the wall, but now we’ve got to reset and regroup and get ready to play.”
Johnson threw a 65-yard touchdown pass to Jerand Bradley with 6:23 remaining, but the Wildcats never got the ball back.
Both teams struggled to deal with wet conditions in the first half. Kansas State had two turnovers and a turnover on downs, and Iowa State committed two turnovers in the first 30 minutes.
“We just made some great adjustments,” Campbell said. “We saw some things different in the first game and the opportunity to make some adjustments and to have the ability to do that, to have the staff that’s been together for so long that we have the confidence to make those adjustments.”
The Cyclones grabbed a 14-7 lead when Becht found Eskildsen in the corner of the end zone with 1:07 left in the third quarter.
Johnson responded with a 37-yard touchdown pass to Jayce Brown, tying it at 14 with 14:09 remaining in the game.
Hansen led Iowa State with 71 yards rushing on 16 carries. Joe Jackson had 51 yards on 12 carries for Kansas State.
“I thought that the (offensive line) did a really great job in the second half,” Campbell said. “Our tight ends and o-line did a great job of execution and man Carson is a really great player so we’re really proud of him.”
Iowa State has beat Kansas State in five of the past six seasons.
“I think those are great wins, any time you can beat quality opponents that’s awesome,” Campbell said. “We got a long way to go, it’s only game one and there’s a lot of football left and we’re going to have to see if we’re tough enough as a program and team to go home and get ready for a good South Dakota team next week.”
Kansas State running back Dylan Edwards was injured in the first quarter on a punt that he muffed. He didn’t return to the game.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The FCS Kickoff game between UC Davis and Mercer was declared a no contest after a weather delay of about 1 1/2 hours Saturday night.
UC Davis, ranked No. 7 in the FCS coaches poll, had a 23-17 lead over No. 11 Mercer when play was stopped with about 7 1/2 minutes left.
“Tonight’s 11th Annual FCS Kickoff has been declared a ‘No Contest’ due to rain and intermittent lightning that has continued to move through central Alabama,” Mercer said on social media. “All statistics from tonight’s game have been voided.”
UC Davis posted: “Mother Nature wins the day as tonight’s game in Montgomery has been called a no contest.”
LAS VEGAS — Running back Jai’Den Thomas scored three touchdowns, the UNLV defense had four interceptions, and the heavily favored Rebels held off Idaho State38-31 on Saturday in the debut of Dan Mullen as their coach.
After winning 11 games in 2024, UNLV is starting over with only two returning starters and a new coach. Mullen, 103-61 in 13 seasons at Mississippi State and Florida before becoming a college football analyst on ESPN, picked up the 12th season-opening win of his career.
“Great job by these guys, great way to come out and get a win,” Mullen said. “Obviously, it’s so hard to win, there are so many new faces on the field for us.”
Thomas gained 147 yards on 10 carries and Virginia transfer Anthony Colandrea threw for 195 yards to go with 93 yards rushing.
The Rebels trailed 31-24 in the fourth quarter and struggled to put the game away even after their defense intercepted Idaho State’s Jordan Cooke on back-to-back drives in the fourth.
After Colandrea’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Daejon Reynolds tied it at 31, UNLV cashed in one interception with Michigan transfer quarterback Alex Orji‘s 11-yard scramble for a score on a fourth-and-1 play. Now leading 38-31, the Rebels intercepted Cooke again, but Ramon Villela missed a 41-yard field goal attempt.
Idaho State drove to the UNLV 32 but Cooke was called for intentional grounding while he was being sacked for a loss of 11 yards. On fourth-and-22, Quandarius Keyes broke up a pass to seal the win for the Rebels, who closed as favorites of more than four touchdowns just before kickoff.
“The great thing is: Find a way to win,” Mullen said. “It could have been very easy for us to find a way to lose today. … And you know what? We’re going to enjoy that.”
Cooke finished 30-for-50 passing for 380 yards with one touchdown but he threw three of Idaho State’s four interceptions.
Thomas, one of the two returning starters for the Rebels (the other is linebacker Marsel McDuffie), erased a 10-0 deficit with second-quarter touchdown runs of 39 and 70 yards, but Idaho State led 17-14 at halftime after Dason Brooks scored on a 27-yard run with two minutes left in the half.
“If you’re not jumping up and down and celebrating, you’re playing the wrong game,” Mullen said, wrapping up his closer-than-expected debut. “Because our team won.”
