Yastrzemski Likes to Hit

The Frederick Keys played in the second game of their series with the Lynchburg Hillcats on Saturday. After dropping the first game to the Hillcats on Independence Day, the Keys were looking to extract a little revenge on the opposing team.

Revenge they got. The Keys crushed Lynchburg by a score of 17-3. During Saturday’s game, the Keys scored in every inning except for the first and eighth innings. Leading the charge for Frederick was outfielder, Mike Yastrzemski.

If you were wondering about his last name, the answer is yes. Mike is the grandson of Red Sox great, Carl Yastrzemski. One thing Carl did in his career with Boston was hit for the cycle on May 14th, 1965. Saturday night, Mike did the same thing.

His big night from the plate started in the very first inning when Yastrzemski started the game with a lead-off single. He stepped back up to the plate in the next inning. With one out and runners on second and third, “Yaz” hit a double to right field scoring both base runners in the process and giving the Keys the early 5-0 lead.

A triple and a home run away from the cycle, Yaz came back up to the plate in the fourth inning. Unfortunately, he grounded out to the shortstop for his only plate appearance of the night where he did not record a hit. In the fifth inning, he came back up to bat with a a runner on first and two outs.

Yaz would chip away at the coveted cycle with this at bat as he hit a towering, two-run home run to left center field to extend the Keys’ lead to 12-2.

His fifth plate appearance ended in a hit but not the one to get him the cycle. He recorded his second double of the night scoring his fifth run batted in of the night as well. His last hope to get the cycle came in the ninth inning when he led off the inning.

Yaz kept his cool during the plate appearance and did the unthinkable by hitting the ball to deep left field and recorded his 11th triple of the season and his first one with the Keys since moving up from Delmarva. He eventually scored to give the Keys their 17th and final run of the game.

Yastrzemski ended the night going 5-6 from the plate, scoring three times with five runs batted in. With his big night, Yaz is now batting .321 on the season. If he wants to get noticed by the Orioles front office, having nights like these from the plate will certainly get it done.