The Baltimore Orioles have had little celebrate this season, another miserable campaign, but Jonathan Villar gave them something to smile about on Wednesday night.
Villar hit a three-run home run off of Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Caleb Ferguson during the seventh inning at Camden Yards in Baltimore on Wednesday night, the 6,106th homer of 2019, setting an MLB single-season record and breaking the previous record set in 2017.
The new record comes with 18 days remaining in the regular season.
The 2017 record didn’t last as long as the record season it topped. The prior record was 5,693 homers back in 2000.
“Somebody told me after the homer. That’s unbelievable,” Villar said (h/t ESPN). “That’s impressive for me, not for me, it’s for the team because we hit it here. That’s awesome. They put the bat in the Hall of Fame. I’m excited for that.”
Despite the Orioles giving up a single-season record 280 home runs, Orioles manager Brandon Hyde discussed how nice it was to see the Orioles making a mark with a homer of their own.
“The home runs are up everywhere and it’s tough to keep the ball in the ballpark. It’s tough to keep the ball in this ballpark on a humid night when the ball was traveling,” Hyde said. “I’ve seen enough home runs here from the other side, so it’s nice to get one from our side.”