Addison Barger‘s power breakout continued on Tuesday.
The 25-year-old homered for a fourth straight game for the Toronto Blue Jays, earning himself a spot in franchise history with the 373-foot shot against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Barger became the first Blue Jays hitter to homer in four straight games since Teoscar Hernández achieved the feat in August 2021.
It was Barger’s second hit of the game and sixth long ball of the season. The utility man is now slashing .274/.338/.508 over 39 games for Toronto this season.
A sixth-round pick of the Blue Jays in 2018, Barger began his homer heater in Game 2 of Toronto’s series against the Athletics before leaving the yard in the next two contests, as well.
While Tuesday’s homer wasn’t nearly as exciting as Sunday’s go-ahead blast, it did put Barger onto an exclusive list of Blue Jays hitters.
There had previously only been 26 four-game homer streaks in franchise history, with 20 different hitters accomplishing the feat — Edwin Encarnacion did it on four separate occasions.
As Toronto gets set to continue its three-game set with the Phillies, Barger will have a chance to move into more rarified air the longer he can keep the streak going. Only three players have continued homer streaks beyond four games, with José Bautista (five games, 2014), José Cruz (six games, 2001) and Kendrys Morales (seven games, 2018) setting the pace for consecutive contests.
The MLB record for home runs in consecutive games is eight, and is shared by Ken Griffey Jr. (1993), Dale Long (1956) and current Blue Jays bench coach Don Mattingly (1987).
You can watch as Barger takes his shot at adding to his streak on Wednesday as the Blue Jays take on Philadelphia rookie Mick Abel. The game can be seen on Sportsnet ONE or streamed on Sportsnet+, beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET / 3:30 p.m. PT.
