With his two-out double in the third inning of the Red Sox’ 7-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday night, Xander Bogaerts made some history, as he became just the second shortstop ever to mash 30 home runs and collect 50 two-baggers in the same season.
He also joined Sox legend David Ortiz as the only other player in franchise history to hit 30 homers and 50 doubles in the same season, 12 years after Ortiz became the first, per Red Sox Notes.
Alex Rodriguez first accomplished the feat in his age-20 season with the Seattle Mariners way back in 1996 and went on to finish second in American League Most Valuable Player voting that year.
Following Thursday’s win, Bogaerts is now slashing .304/.380/.560 to go along with those 31 long balls, 50 doubles, and 106 RBI, all of which are career-highs for the 26-year-old, through 141 games in 2019.
Bogaerts’ teammate and partner on the left side of the infield, Rafael Devers, notched his 50th two-bagger of the campaign this past Tuesday, meaning the two are the first pair of Red Sox players to hit 50 doubles in the same season. Pretty remarkable.
As things stand at the moment, it appears as though Boston will have four players finish in the top-10 in AL MVP voting, presumably in the order of Bogaerts, Devers, Mookie Betts, and J.D. Martinez.
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