TORONTO -- Jurickson Profar and Robinson Chirinos went back-to-back to put the Rangers on the board early against the Blue Jays on Saturday at Rogers Centre. The Rangers went on to win the game, 7-4.
The first four Rangers hitters of the game all struck out against Jaime Garcia, but Profar finally cracked the code with his two-run shot after Joey Gallo walked ahead of him.
Profar's home run left his bat at 112.2 mph, which is the hardest-hit ball that Statcast™ has ever measured from him. His previous high was 107.5 mph, a lineout against Michael Fulmer back in 2016.
"Right-handed, that might be the hardest ball we've seen him hit," Rangers manager Jeff Banister said.
Entering Saturday, Profar had the fourth-longest streak of at-bats without a home run (excluding pitchers) at 227. He trailed only Eric Sogard of the Brewers, Jonathan Jay of the Royals, and Tony Wolters of the Rockies.
"I liked that he was aggressive early, got a fastball up, and put a really good swing on it where he didn't try to get too big," Banister said. "It let him settle in and know that he doesn't have to generate power, that he's got some power."
After Profar pulled that rocket 421 feet, Chirinos sent one the opposite way. The catcher sent a high, floating fly ball to the opposite field that never came down, and just snuck around the foul pole in right field. It was measured at 346 feet.
Chirinos went deep again in the top of the sixth inning against Seunghwan Oh, this time pulling the ball over the fence to give the Rangers a 6-1 lead.