Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, a weekday newsletter that gets you up to speed on everything you need to know for today’s games, while catching you up on fun and interesting stories you might have missed. Today's edition is brought to you by David Adler.
Mike Trout has spent this week just tearing up the Yankees at Yankee Stadium.
In today's finale between the Angels and the Bronx Bombers, Trout smacked his fifth home run of the series -- as many homers as any player has hit in a single series against the Yankees in their history.
The only other players with five homers against the Yankees in one series were George Bell in 1990, Darrell Evans in 1985 and the legendary Jimmie Foxx in 1933. But none of those guys did it at Yankee Stadium.
So Trout has the most home runs by any visiting player ever in a series at Yankee Stadium -- either the current Yankee Stadium or The House that Ruth Built.
To set the stage for the series finale, Trout smacked two home runs in Monday's series opener in a historic showdown with fellow three-time MVP Aaron Judge, one on Tuesday as part of back-to-back-to-back homers by the Angels and another yesterday.
The Jersey boy Trout loves hitting at Yankee Stadium. And now it's fair to ask the question: Is Trout's series this week the single best series by a visiting player at the ballpark ... ever?
He's got a great case. But other stars have had great series at Yankee Stadium, too -- even just the new one, which opened in 2009. Here are five players who have come to town and crushed it against the Bronx Bombers:
1) Mookie Betts, Red Sox
Sept. 28-Oct. 1, 2015
The 2015 season was the coming-out party for a 22-year-old Mookie, and he took over this series as the Sox won three of four games against their archrivals. Betts had four straight multi-hit games against the Yanks with six extra-base hits -- three homers and three doubles -- the most by any visiting player in one series at the current Yankee Stadium.
2) Miguel Cabrera, Tigers
Aug. 16-19, 2010
Before Trout, only two players had hit four home runs in a series against the Yankees at the new Yankee Stadium. Miggy was the first. Cabrera, who finished as the American League MVP runner-up in 2010, belted four of the 38 home runs he'd hit that season.
3) Mark Reynolds, Orioles
Aug. 31-Sept. 2, 2012
Reynolds is the other player to bash four homers against the Yankees in their stadium. He did it in a three-game series late in the season as the Yanks and O's battled for the AL East title. Reynolds bookended the series with two multi-homer games, and the Orioles won both of those.
4) Prince Fielder, Rangers
May 22-24, 2015
This was the last great season for Fielder, who led Texas to the AL West crown by batting .305 with 23 home runs. The lefty slugger was awesome against the Yankees in New York, going 8-for-14 in the Rangers' three-game sweep with three home runs and nine RBIs. (Programming note: Prince is this week's guest on the 6-1-1 Podcast. Listen here.)
5) Rafael Devers, Red Sox
Aug. 18-20, 2023
Devers was always the Yankees' nemesis, and they couldn't get him out in this series. Devers led the Red Sox to a sweep with three consecutive three-hit games, including a pair of home runs. Devers' nine hits are tied for the most by a visitor in any series at the new Yankee Stadium, and are the most in a three-game series.
Honorable mentions: Maikel Franco/2015 Phillies (3 HR, 10 RBIs in 3 games), Justin Morneau/2009 Twins (9 hits, 3 HR in 4 games)
