Athletics' Kurtz is 1st rookie ever to record 4-HR game
It took Nick Kurtz just 66 games to produce arguably the greatest single-game performance in baseball history.
The Athletics slugger etched his name into the sport's lore Friday, becoming the first rookie ever to hit four home runs in a game during the A's 15-3 win over the Houston Astros at Daikin Park.
"It still really hasn't set in that it actually just happened," Kurtz said, according to Martin Gallegos of MLB.com. "A game like that is stuff that you don't even dream about, because it doesn't really happen. It's just an unbelievable feeling. Glad we got the win, obviously. That performance was awesome."
Kurtz crushed his fourth homer off Houston Astros position player Cooper Hummel in the ninth inning.
THE 20TH FOUR-HOMER GAME IN MLB HISTORY BELONGS TO NICK KURTZ! pic.twitter.com/ZQAnLE3fRy
— MLB (@MLB) July 26, 2025
That blast completed an incredible 6-for-6 night for Kurtz with four homers, five extra-base hits - including a double that landed just a few inches short of a fifth homer - eight RBIs, and six runs scored.
This is how close Kurtz came to the first five-homer game in MLB history tonight.
— Manny Randhawa (@MannyOnMLB) July 26, 2025
I think the '1POINTFIVE' sign is for how many feet short of a homer that ball came. pic.twitter.com/qgwt6Dq07K
His 19 total bases tied Shawn Green's MLB record from 2002. Green and Kurtz are the only players to record six hits and four home runs in the same game. Kurtz also became just the ninth player since 1900 to score six runs in a game.
Never in baseball's 150-year history has a player finished a game with at least six hits, six runs and eight RBIs until Nick Kurtz tonight.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 26, 2025
His 19 total bases tie Shawn Green's single-game record -- and Kurtz had one more RBI. There's a genuine argument it is the best game ever.
Kurtz is the 20th player in MLB history to hit four homers in a game, and the first Athletics hitter to do it. He's only the second A's player with five-plus hits and three-plus homers in a game, joining Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx, who had a six-hit, three-homer game for the then-Philadelphia A's in 1932, per MLB Stats.
At 22 years, 135 days old, he's by far the youngest member of the four-homer club, per Stathead.
The A's drafted Kurtz fourth overall out of Wake Forest last summer. He flew through the minors and made his big-league debut on April 23 after just 20 contests at Triple-A.
Kurtz is now hitting .305/.374/.686 with 23 homers and 59 RBIs over 271 plate appearances this season. His 43 extra-base hits are the most by a player through his first 66 career games since Joe DiMaggio in 1936, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com.