WASHINGTON -- Amid the rubble from Wednesday's 17-7 rout at the hands of the Nationals, Reds rookie sensation Aristides Aquino still found a way to make his bat stand out -- again in historic fashion.
On an 0-1 slider in the seventh inning, Aquino lifted a one-out solo home run to right-center field. With that blast, Aquino became the fastest player ever to hit nine career home runs, requiring only 14 games.
The record had belonged to the Rockies' Trevor Story, who had eight homers in his first 14 career games in 2016.
“Just keep going, keep going,” Reds manager David Bell said of Aquino’s mind-bending success.
In the ninth inning, Aquino added a single to right field and came home when Freddy Galvis hit a two-run homer to get a four-hit game in his first start for the Reds.
Aquino is batting .386 with a 1.448 OPS in 13 big league games this season after he played one game in 2018. He’s collected hits in 10 of his last 11 games, a span that includes his three-homer night vs. the Cubs on Saturday. In that game, he tied an MLB record by going deep in three consecutive innings and equaled Story's MLB mark with seven homers over his first 10 career games.
On Monday, Aquino set an MLB record by hitting his eighth homer in 12 career games.
Aquino also advanced to second base on a ball in the dirt on Wednesday, and the play took a video review to confirm he was safe.