Kris Bryant Hits League-Record Three HRs And Two Doubles In Cubs’ 11-8 Win Over Reds

Kris Bryant went 5-for-5 with six RBIs and became the first MLB player since 1913 to hit three home runs and two doubles in the same game, an 11-8 road victory for the Chicago Cubs against the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night.

Kris Bryant Hits League-Record Three HRs And Two Doubles In Cubs’ 11-8 Win Over Reds

Bryant also set a Cubs franchise record with 16 total bases. It was the first three-homer game in the 24-year-old third baseman’s career.

“I tried to get in on him the first at-bat [a double in the first inning], and then the second at-bat I tried to throw a fastball down and away, and it ended up middle about belt high. He hit it out,” said Reds starter Dan Straily. “The next one I tried to throw a slider down and away and tossed it middle high again. He did what good hitters do with those pitches. They do damage with them.”

Straily had his shortest starting outing of the season, lasting just 3 2/3 innings. He gave up seven earned runs on nine hits with three walks and two strikeouts.

Right-hander Jake Arrieta, who made history last time he pitched against the Reds by throwing his second career no-hitter (16-0) on April 21, and first baseman Anthony Rizzo added solo home run for the National League Central-leading Cubs, who also own the best record in MLB (49-26). Rizzo blasted a solo homer to right field to go back-to-back with Bryant in the top of the 8th inning.

Joey Votto hit two homers for the Reds, who rallied from an 8-3 deficit with four straight runs to push the score to 8-7 after seven innings just before Rizzo and Bryant gave Chicago a 10-7 lead at Great American Ball Park.

Arrieta earned his 12th win of the season, best in the NL, despite having one of his worst outings. The ace went five innings and gave up only four hits, but also allowed a season-high five runs and walked a season-high five batters.

“You look at the [radar] guns and the readings and the boards, everything’s normal,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. “He’s just not on top of his fastball regarding where it’s going, and that’s it.”

Bryant’s record-setting night included nearly a quarter mile of home runs, according to Statcast™. His first was a 410-foot, one-out solo shot in the third, followed by a 444-foot, three-run shot the next inning. He then hit the history-making 403-foot solo shot in the eighth.

Meanwhile, Votto was back hitting in the No. 3 spot in the Reds’ lineup Monday. It was just the fourth time in his last 29 starts that he’s hit third. He went 2-for-4 against the Cubs, hitting a pair of home runs to go along with a walk and three runs scored.

Arrieta praised Bryant when asked about his potential to become MVP.

“I told a lot of people coming into Spring Training last season, I got asked a lot of questions about him,” Arrieta said. “‘So what do you got on Bryant?’ or ‘What kind of hitter’s he going to be?’ Most of the people that asked me, I told them he’s going to be a top five hitter in the league as soon as he gets into the big leagues. Not to put any pressure on him, but that’s the guy he is, and I saw it from day one. The ability he had to obviously have power to all fields, have very few holes.”

The two teams will next face off on Tuesday night in the second game of their three-game series in Cincinnati. Lefty John Lamb will take the mound for the Reds (29-48, 5th in NL Central), while the Cubs will start left-hander Jon Lester (9-3, 2.10 ERA).

PHOTO: CINCINNATI, OH – JUNE 27: Kris Bryant #17 of the Chicago Cubs rounds the bases after a home run against the Cincinnati Reds in the third inning of the game at Great American Ball Park on June 27, 2016 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)