Consecutive home runs are always a notable event in baseball -- so much so that the expression “back-to-back” has become universally recognized in and outside the game. Three in a row is a feat rarer still (there has been one instance in MLB this year), while four straight has only been achieved 11 times in big league history.
But five home runs in a row? That has never happened in the Major Leagues, though it did occur on Sunday in the Mexican Baseball League (LMB), courtesy of the Charros de Jalisco during the eighth inning of their 7-1 victory over the Tigres de Quintana Roo at the Panamericano Stadium. This is a record for the LMB, a league with a 98-year history.
The Charros came to bat in the bottom of the eighth down 1-0 and facing right-handed reliever Raúl Barron, the third pitcher for the Tigres in the game.
José Guadalupe Chávez started the inning with a double, setting the stage for the home run fest. Veteran infielder Luis Sardinas, who played five seasons in the Majors from 2014-18, hit the first one over the right-center field fence.
Then it was Vimael Machín, another hitter with MLB experience. His round-tripper was to straightaway center field. Next in line was Anthony Giansanti, with a blast out to left field, followed by former Yankees first baseman Greg Bird, who hit one that cleared the center-field fence.
Four home runs were enough for Tigres manager Carlos Gastélum, who went to reliever Juan Cossio to face another former Major Leaguer in Oswaldo Arcia.
But the script didn’t change.
The former Twins, Rays, Marlins, and Padres player hit it out to right field, extending the home run streak to an unprecedented five. Mercifully, Cossio got Maikel Serrano to ground out to second base in the next at-bat, recording the first out of the frame and ending the slugfest.
According to a press release from the Charros, the Jalisco club also tied the record for most home runs in an inning with five, a mark set by El Águila de Veracruz earlier this season against the Guerreros de Oaxaca.
Also per the Charros, before Sunday, three teams had hit four consecutive home runs in the Mexican Baseball League: Veracruz (vs. Acereros in 2005), Toros de Tijuana (vs. Guerreros in '22), and the Conspiradores de Querétaro (vs. Guerreros in '24).