Seager joins list of rare Mariners batting feats

Kyle Seager hit a pair of triples, a home run and a double — a feat not seen in more than 40 years — in leading Felix Hernandez and the Mariners to a 10-2 pasting of New York at Yankee Stadium Monday. Rare as was Seager’s performance, it will soon be blurred from memory by the everyday avalanche of more baseball. But Seager won’t forget it.

“That’s definitely a special one,” Seager told reporters after the Mariners won the makeup of a game washed out April 30. “That’s definitely one I’ll remember, for sure.”

As well he should. Seager became the first major leaguer to hit two triples, one home run and one double since Hal Breeden, now nearly 70, did it for Montreal Sept. 2, 1973, four years before the Mariners played their first game as an expansion franchise. Seager also became the first American Leaguer with a two-triple, one-homer, one-double day since Hoot Evers of the Detroit Tigers Sept. 7, 1950 vs. Cleveland.

Evers died 23 years ago. Four of the five others who accomplished what Seager are also long gone, underscoring Seager’s feat as a true rarity. By comparison, no-hitters and cycles are commonplace, having been accomplished more than 200 times each. The club Seager joined:

Seager, who went 4-for-5, scored three runs and became the eighth Mariner (first since Adrian Beltre in 2007) with four extra-base hits, is no stranger to batting rarities. On Aug. 24, 2011, his first season with Seattle, Seager had a three-double game at Cleveland. There have only been 23 of those in 38 Mariners seasons.

Seager’s show Monday rates as the most unusual individual batting performance by a Seattle player since Beltre’s cycle Sept. 1, 2008. In a 12-6 Seattle victory at Texas, Beltre collected five hits and scored five runs, becoming the only player in franchise history with five hits and five runs in a cycle. More unusual, three of Beltre’s hits came on 0-and-2 pitches.

Among the rarest batting feats by Mariners:

Larry Milbourne: HRs both sides of plate / July 15, 1978

Batting left-handed, Milbourne hit a grand slam off Cleveland’s Jim Paxton in the second inning and, batting right-handed, a solo shot off Don Hood in the fourth. He not only became the first in club history to accomplish this feat (joined by Donnie Scott April 29, 1985, and David Segui April 1, 1998), they were his only home runs of the season.

Bob Stinson & Dan Meyer: PH HRs, same inning / April 27, 1979

With the Yankees leading 5-3 in the bottom of the eighth at the Kingdome, Stinson batted for C Ted Cox and homered off reliever Dick Tidrow. After Larry Milbourne grounded out, Meyer batted for SS Mario Mendoza and belted another homer off Tidrow, giving the Mariners their margin of victory in a 6-5 win. The Mariners haven’t had two pinch hitters homer in the same inning since.

Phil Bradley’s ultimate grand slam / April 13, 1985

Pulling off a feat more rare than a perfect game, Bradley became the seventh player in history to hit an “ultimate home run,” a walk-off grand slam with two outs in the ninth and his team trailing by three runs. Bradley’s slam, off Minnesota’s Ron Davis in the Kingdome, remains the only grand slam of that type hit by a Mariner, and one of 19 in MLB history.

Alvin Davis: game-ending HR in 1-0 finish / Aug. 15, 1986

This has been done 72 times in MLB since 1900, but only once by a Mariner. Davis took Keith Atherton of the Twins deep with one out in the ninth in the Kingdome.

Greg Briley’s leadoff homer / June 19, 1992

Briley staked the Mariners to a 1-0 lead with a game-opening homer off Minnesota’s Kevin Tapani. The score stood, enabling Briley to become the 19^th in history – and only Mariner – to hit a game-winning home run batting leadoff.

Jay Buhner’s cycle / June 23, 1993

One of four players in Seattle history to hit for the cycle, Buhner’s featured a grand slam (off Kelly Downs), making him one of seven in American League history, and the only Mariner, to crack a salami during a cycle.

Dan Wilson’s inside-the-park grand slam / May 3, 1998

Wilson fell behind Detroit’s Frank Castillo 0-and-2, then clobbered a curve ball into the gap in left-center at the Kingdome. The ball hit the fence and bounced away from LF Luis Gonzalez and CF Brian Hunter, enabling Wilson to collect the 171st inside-the-park home run in MLB history, seventh by a catcher, and the only one by a Mariners catcher.

Boone, Cameron: back-to-back HRs twice / May 2, 2002

As part of Mike Cameron’s record-tying, four-homer game at Chicago, Bret Boone and Cameron twice hit back-to-back home runs, the only players in MLB history to accomplish this feat in the same game.

Greg Dobbs’ HR in first Mariner at-bat / Sept. 8, 2004

Ninety-seven players, none named Ruth, Aaron, Mays or Bonds, homered in their first career at-bat. Dobbs is only Mariner to do so, victimizing Bob Wickman of Cleveland, and did so as a pinch-hitter, batting for Jose Lopez.

Ben Broussard’s PH grand slam / April 21, 2007

The Mariners went 31 years before Broussard, hitting for Yuniesky Betancourt, went deep with the first and only pinch-hit slam in franchise history, off Scot Shields of the Angels.

Ichiro’s inside-the-park All-Star HR / July 10, 2007

Ichiro became the first player in All-Star history to hit an inside-the-park home run when he connected off San Diego’s Chris Young (now pitching for the Mariners) in the fifth inning at San Francisco.

Adrian Beltre’s cycle / Sept. 1, 2008

Of the 132 cycles (single, double, triple, homer, same game) since 1960, only 20 featured a five-hit performance that did not require extra innings to accomplish. Beltre needed only eight innings. In becoming the first Mariner to collect five hits and score five runs, Beltre eclipsed Raul Ibanez, who had five hits and scored four runs Aug. 17, 2004 in a 16-3 win over Kansas City).