Segura third Brewer to collect six-pack of hits
Shortstop finishes 6-for-7, increases NL-leading batting average to .365
MILWAUKEE -- Second-year Brewers shortstop Jean Segura could not remember ever collecting six hits in a game. Not in his burgeoning Major League career, not in the Minors, not on the sandlots in the Dominican Republic.
"Never," Segura said. "Only Nintendo."
Never, until the Brewers' otherwise deflating 6-5 loss to the Twins in extra innings Tuesday. Segura went 5-for-5 in regulation, including a tying RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning, then tacked on another single with two outs in the 14th to tie a franchise record that had not been touched in 20 years. He finished 6-for-7 and leads the National League with a .365 batting average.
Only two other Brewers in the franchise's 45 seasons have had six hits in a game: Johnny Briggs on Aug. 4, 1973, at Cleveland and Kevin Reimer on Aug. 24, 1993, vs. Oakland.
Segura's was the first six-hit game in the Major Leagues in nearly four years, since Adrian Gonzalez went 6-for-6 for the Padres against the Brewers on Aug. 11, 2009, at Miller Park. Segura became only the 14th player in the past 10 Major League seasons, and the 26th player in the past 20 seasons, to log six hits in a game.
According to Baseball-Reference.com, Segura, at 23 years and 72 days old, was also the fifth-youngest player since 1916 to log six hits. The youngest was the Astros' Joe Morgan, who was just shy of his 22nd birthday when he went 6-for-6 against the Milwaukee Braves in 1965.
In all, 13 players, including Segura, have enjoyed a six-hit game before their 24th birthday, according to the Baseball-Reference list. Oddly, four of the last five such efforts have come from a player on the losing team.
"He continues to get on base," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "We had a couple opportunities there to win it. [Ryan Braun] smoked a ball there at the shortstop; you can say it was unlucky, but we were lucky he didn't turn two on it. We had a shot with Aramis [Ramirez] after that. There were some good things in the game today, just another tough loss."
Segura's .365 batting average is second in the Majors to the Tigers' Miguel Cabrera, who is hitting .373.