CHICAGO -- It was three up, three out for Manny Machado on Sunday afternoon as the Orioles' third baseman blasted a career-high three home runs in the first three innings of Baltimore's 10-2 win in the series finale against the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field.
Machado, who got things going with a two-run first-inning homer off of Chicago starter James Shields, struck again with a three-run shot in his next at-bat in the second. After the O's chased Shields -- who surrendered four home runs -- after four outs, Machado did the unthinkable: he homered again.
"I mean, it's awesome. It's tough to do," Machado said of the feat, which put him in pretty rare company. "First off, you don't get at-bats every inning. To go out there and get three homers, it's pretty cool, pretty awesome. Not going to lie, it's exciting.
"I've been trying to find my swing. ... This whole series, I've been squaring up some balls, which is fun, and today they finally went out of the park. It is just an overall great day and I'm blessed to get an opportunity to perform at a high level."

The third blast, a two-run shot off Matt Albers, gave Machado a career-high seven RBIs in just the third inning and put the Orioles out in front, 10-0.
"'Wow.' I think that's really what I said," Orioles starter Dylan Bundy said of Machado's 25th homer. "I saw it go out, and it's impressive what he can do. I hope he does it for a long time."
Machado now has two multihomer games this year and eight in his career. He is the first O's player to record a three-homer game since Chris Davis did it on May 20, 2014, in Pittsburgh. He's also the first opponent to hit three homers at U.S. Cellular Field since Justin Morneau accomplished the feat with Minnesota on July 6, 2007.
"Nothing really surprises us anymore. We just kind of look at each other and go, 'Hmm, not that easy,'" Orioles manager Buck Showalter said of Machado's latest accomplishment. "The game slows down for him sometimes, and he does things that not many people do. So, get a good seat for it, shut your mouth and try to enjoy it. That's what I do."
Machado is just the second player in Major League history to hit a home run in the first, second and third inning of the game. The other was Carl Reynolds of the White Sox on July 2, 1930, at the Yankees, according to Stats. Machado is the ninth player in MLB history to hit a homer in three consecutive innings at any point during the game. And he was vying for four.
"I was trying [to hit a fourth]. Not going to lie," Machado said of the three at-bats that followed the homers. "The pitchers came out there. I get lucky sometimes, and sometimes they make great pitches. So they made three good pitches that I wasn't able to get out. But I was trying. I was trying real hard."