WATCH: Baez sets career high in homers on four-year anniversary of Cubs debut |
CHICAGO — Setting a new career high in home runs, Chicago Cubs second baseman Javier Baez got underneath an inside pitch and sent it sailing out beyond left-center field for his 24th homer of the season in the Cubs' matchup with the San Diego Padres on Sunday.
Bleacher bomb. #EverybodyIn pic.twitter.com/11L7LeuPKS Baez, who tied his career-high homer mark on Friday, has already established a new career-best total with 51 games remaining in the regular season. Swinging on a first-pitch curveball thrown by Padres starter Joey Lucchesi in the third inning, Baez cranked a 435-footer that skied off the bat at a launch angle of 30 degrees and an exit velocity of 102 miles per hour. Javier Baez (41) off LHP Joey Lucchesi (15) - 102.1 mph, 30 degrees (435 ft Home Run) Baez swung so hard on the solo bomb that he accidentally hit Padres catcher Austin Hedges's mitt on his backswing, and Baez made sure that Hedges was okay before trotting around the bases. Interestingly enough, the dinger came on the four-year anniversary of Baez's big-league debut, in which he hit a game-winning home run for the Cubs in extra innings of a 6-5 Chicago win over the Colorado Rockies.
81.3 mph Curveball#Padres @ #Cubs (B3) pic.twitter.com/x9quS0KITZ
