Orioles first baseman Ryan Mountcastle drove in a record-tying nine runs as part of Baltimore's 12-8 (box score) win on Tuesday night against the Oakland Athletics.
Mountcastle went 3 for 4 on the evening, homering twice (one being of the grand-slam variety) and singling for his other knock. He also hit a sacrifice fly. In the process, Mountcastle tied the Orioles' single-game franchise record for runs batted in, tying Eddie Murray (1985) and Jim Gentile (1961), according to MLB.com's Sarah Langs.
AS GRAND AS IT GETS pic.twitter.com/p5OCIUlMU9
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) April 12, 2023
Mountcastle's effort represents the 18th nine-plus-RBI game since 1998. It's just the second time since 2020 that a player has driven in at least nine. Previously, the only player to do it had been now-Boston Red Sox outfielder Adam Duvall. At the time, in September 2020, Duvall was with the Atlanta Braves. He accomplished the feat against the Miami Marlins in a 29-9 boat race that saw him homer thrice.
Mountcastle, 26, entered Tuesday hitting .244/.289/.561 (134 OPS+) with three home runs and nine runs batted in over the course of his first 10 games. In other words, he doubled his seasonal RBI total in a single night. That's a good night at the office, folks. Mountcastle, after Tuesday, is now hitting .289/.320/.711 with five home runs and 18 runs batted in.
The Orioles, now 6-5 on the year, will play two more games against the lowly Athletics before heading to Chicago for a weekend set against the White Sox. As for the Athletics, they're now 2-9 on the year. Their minus-53 run differential is, by far, the worst in Major League Baseball. Only the Detroit Tigers (minus-37) have been outscored by more than 30 runs.
