A rookie’s first major-league game is usually about adjustment; Joshua Báez’s was about rewriting the record book. The Cardinals left fielder homered in each of his first three plate appearances Saturday, driving St. Louis past Chicago 8-4.

The straight game account emphasizes the scale and mechanics of the performance: Báez, called up from Triple-A Memphis earlier that day, hit the first pitch he saw into the Wrigley Field bleachers, then went deep twice more. He finished with five RBIs, while Blaze Jordan and Alec Burleson added solo home runs. Báez’s three-homer outburst came entirely against Cubs starter Matthew Boyd and made him the first player to accomplish the feat in his first three major-league at-bats.¹

A more celebratory account presents the same achievement as a spectacle. It highlights Báez becoming the first rookie in major-league history to hit three homers in his debut, as well as the presence of roughly 30 family members at Wrigley Field. After the game, his mother, Yris, embraced him on the field as rain fell—turning a statistical milestone into a personal one.²

The two perspectives converge on the essential point: Báez was the decisive force in an 8-4 Cardinals victory, recording three home runs and five RBIs. They differ mainly in emphasis. One measures an extraordinary offensive performance inning by inning; the other frames it as a once-in-a-lifetime family moment. Báez’s own reaction captured both sides: “It’s just unreal… To not only get a hit, but three home runs? It’s crazy.”²