Athletics' Lawrence Butler: Memorable three-homer game Sunday

Butler went 3-for-6 with a trio of two-run home runs in an 18-3 win over the Phillies on Sunday.

The rookie had the most memorable hitting performance in an afternoon full of them for the Athletics, who slugged a whopping eight home runs in the rout. Butler left the yard in the fifth, seventh and eighth innings, capping off his trio of round trippers with a massive 449-foot shot that landed in the second deck in right-center field. It is the first time Butler has homered three times in a game at any level of professional baseball, and his long-ball total on the afternoon represented exactly half his season tally across 187 plate appearances coming into the day. Butler heads into an inopportunely timed All-Star break with his power stroke in prolific form, as he's left the yard on five occasions in the last six games.