Leadoff history! McCarthy's inside-the-park HR feat hasn't happened in nearly 100 years

SAN FRANCISCO -- Rockies leadoff hitter Jake McCarthy started Sunday’s 3-1 loss to the Giants with an inside-the-park home run off Trevor McDonald. He made history, too.

McCarthy, who incredibly recorded his first inside-the-park home run at any level against the Pirates on June 20, became the first player with two leadoff inside-the-parkers in the same season since Edd Roush in 1929.

The play initially appeared to be a Little League home run. McCarthy drilled a ball into Triples Alley in right-center field at Oracle Park, and two Giants outfielders pulled up as they chased it, thinking the ball might bounce over the fence for a ground-rule double.

Instead, the ball caromed high off the wall as McCarthy raced around to score. The official scorer initially ruled it a triple and an error on right fielder Jung Hoo Lee, but later changed it to a home run to cement McCarthy’s name in the history books.

It was the third first-inning leadoff inside-the-park homer in Rockies history -- Eric Young Jr. had the other on Aug. 8, 2012. It was the 21st inside-the-park homer in Rockies history and, before McCarthy's feats this season, the team’s first since Ian Desmond’s on June 14, 2019.

McCarthy, 28, joined the Rockies in a January trade with the Diamondbacks.