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On Friday night at Daikin Park, Athletics rookie Nick Kurtz put forth a historic performance that stunned the baseball world and earned a place in MLB history. In a 15-3 blowout victory over the Houston Astros, the 22-year-old slugger became the first rookie in MLB history to hit four home runs in a single game, going a perfect 6-for-6 at the plate.
Kurtz homered in the second, sixth, eighth, and ninth innings, with each home run coming off a different Astros pitcher, Ryan Gusto, Nick Hernandez, Kaleb Ort, and position player Cooper Hummel. His final homer, a three-run shot in the ninth off Hummel’s 77 mph pitch, landed in the Crawford Boxes in left field.
His third homer of the night, a solo blast in the eighth, traveled 414 feet. Earlier in the game, Kurtz also singled and doubled, with the double in the fourth inning narrowly missing a fifth home run by mere feet.
The numbers were staggering, six hits, five extra-base hits, six runs scored, eight RBIs, and a record-tying 19 total bases, matching a modern-era MLB record set by Shawn Green in 2002. Kurtz and Green are now the only two players in MLB history to collect six hits and four home runs in the same game.
Since RBIs became official in 1920, Kurtz is the only player ever to achieve in his career: a game with 4+ HR, 5+ XBH, 6+ hits, 6+ runs, and 8+ RBIs, all in one night.
What made the night even more special was the presence of Kurtz’s family.
“A’s rookie Nick Kurtz greets his parents and godparents after the game of his life. It was the first time his godparents had seen him play a big league game. His parents flew in today to attend,” Chandler Rome of The Athletic reported.
“This is the first time my godparents have been here, so they probably have to come in the rest of the year,” Kurtz explained after the game, via The Boston Globe. “My parents flew in today. They’ve been here a bunch, but it was cool to have some family here for that.”
Kurtz was selected fourth overall by the A's in the 2024 MLB Draft following a standout collegiate career at Wake Forest. He dominated the minors with a 1.283 OPS across Single-A and Double-A, followed by a 1.040 OPS in Triple-A before his MLB debut on April 23, 2025.
After struggling early with a .208 average and just one home run through May 19, he turned things around dramatically. Since then, he’s slashed .352/.427/.870 with 24 home runs in 43 games, translating to a 90+ homer pace over a full season.
In July alone, Kurtz has led all major leaguers in multiple offensive categories, batting average (.425), on-base percentage (.494), slugging (1.082), runs (22), doubles (13), home runs (11), and RBIs (27).
