For those who did not know who Pavin Smith was before tonight, now you do.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Facing three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander, the Diamondbacks’ Pavin Smith dominated, driving in a staggering eight RBIs within the first five innings of Arizona’s fast offensive outbreak against the Astros on Sunday Night Baseball.
In the 2nd inning, after Jake McCarthy and Eugenio Suárez opened with a pair of singles, Smith got the scoring started with a three-run blast off the right-field foul pole.
Pavin off the pole in prime time. ???????? pic.twitter.com/H3RgtKMZVx
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) September 8, 2024
Then, an inning later, following three singles and a walk, Smith cleared the bases with a booming grand slam, making it an 8-0 game.
PRIME. TIME. PAVIN. pic.twitter.com/U6ocfrImRq
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) September 8, 2024
But Smith wasn’t done once Verlander was taken out. In the 5th inning, he capped off his career night with a third homer, this time a solo shot. The home run brought him a two-run bomb away from completing the home run cycle.
Pavin Smith:
2nd inning: 3-run homer
3rd inning: 4-run homer
5th inning: just a lil' 1-run homer pic.twitter.com/ljpC4jcbtF— MLB (@MLB) September 9, 2024
Smith, who was called up from Triple-A Reno on August 19th, has now played 43 games for the Diamondbacks this season. Sunday marked his first career multi-homer game.
With the Padres and Mets both losing, Arizona’s explosive start against Houston was exactly what they needed to regain momentum after three consecutive losses. The D-backs piled up nine hits in the first four innings, with just one swing and miss against Verlander.
