Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Brad Miller notched his first career three-homer game on Thursday night in a blowout win against the Chicago Cubs. Miller’s hat trick was the 10th of the Major League Baseball season, and the first recorded by a Phillies hitter since Jayson Werth did it in May 2008.
Miller’s first home run occurred in the third inning against starter Adbert Alzolay traveled 401 feet and left the bat at a 112.5 mph exit velocity. His second, which came in the fifth against Alzolay, went 400 feet at 108 mph. His third, versus reliever Cory Abbott in the seventh, checked in at 418 feet and checked out at 113.9 mph.
Marvel at the longest and hardest-struck of the trio:
Miller, 31, entered Thursday hitting .248/.339/.414 (109 OPS+) with six home runs and three stolen bases in 165 plate appearances. Thursday’s start was his first of July, and just his second since June 25.
Coincidentally, Thursday’s outing improved Miller’s ridiculous career numbers at Wrigley Field. In 34 plate appearances coming into the night, he’d hit .296/.441/.593 with two home runs. His 1.034 OPS was the fourth-highest OPS he had produced at any ballpark, trailing Nationals Park, Coors Field, and Petco Park, with the last two combining for just 33 plate appearances total.
The Phillies came into Thursday’s contest with a 41-43 record on the season, good for fourth place in the National League East. Philadelphia has played well in July, winning five of its first seven contests.
The Phillies, by the way, haven’t had a four-homer game since Mike Schmidt did the deed against the Cubs back in April of 1976, according to the Stathead research tool at Baseball Reference.
