MIAMI, FL - AUGUST 08: Brandon Crawford #35 of the San Francisco Giants hit a base hit in the top of the 14th inning to score Brandon Belt #9 against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park on August 8, 2016 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Brandon Crawford
San Francisco Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford said he wasn't really thinking about setting a franchise record with his seven hits against the Miami Marlins on Monday.
That sort of thing can escape you during a 14-inning game that saw the Marlins burn through their whole bullpen and send a guy who started two days prior (Andrew Cashner) back to the mound at the end.
It didn't matter. Crawford hit them all.
How unlikely was it? Well, Crawford's hit .200 since the All-Star break and was riding a 6-for-37 stretch coming into the game.
And making it extra sweet was that he drove in the game-winning run with his final hit, scoring Brandon Belt on the second pitch he saw from Cashner.
From MLB.com:
"It doesn't happen very often that you get eight at-bats in a game," Crawford said. "I figured [seven hits] probably didn't happen a whole lot. You don't think about stuff like that when you're playing."
It's the first time in nearly 41 years that an NL player has had seven hits in a game (The Pittsburgh Pirates' Rennie Sennett did it in nine innings vs. the Cubs) and only the fifth time overall in the majors a player has had seven or more hits in a game.
Johnny Burnett holds the all-time record with nine, which he achieved with the Cleveland Indians in an 18-inning game in 1932.
Four more innings and Crawford might have tied that record, too.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.