Witt enters exclusive club, latest home run helps Royals to seventh-straight win

PHILADELPHIA (KCTV) - Bobby Witt Jr. and his scorching hot bat made their presence felt Friday night in Philadelphia.

The Kansas City Royals’ 23-year-old shortstop homered to deep left-center field in the top of the third inning for his 20th home run of the season.

The two-run blast knotted the game at 2 apiece and helped Witt become the first player in Major League Baseball history to record 20 home runs and 30 stolen bases in each of their first two seasons at the big-league level.

“That’s an amazing accomplishment,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “I feel really honored and privileged to witness that. He is showing the tools that he has.”

Witt’s latest accomplishment came two days after Witt stole his 30th base of the season, to join Sam Jethroe and Barry Bonds as the only players to reach the 15 home run, 30 stolen base threshold during their first two years in the league.

READ MORE: More history: Witt Jr. becomes first in 36 years to accomplish feat

After singling in the fifth inning, Witt swiped second base for his 32nd stolen base of the year before he was thrown out attempting to take third later in the inning.

Kansas City rallied from a 4-2 deficit to defeat the Phillies 7-5, winning Kansas City’s seventh-straight game to reach the longest winning streak for the organization since July 2017.

“Eye opener for everyone,” Witt said. “Shows you what we’re capable of doing. Trust our process, trust each other and go out and have fun.”

Over the course of the winning streak, Witt Jr. is batting .531 with four homers, 15 RBIs and four steals. He’s had multi-hit games in 13 of the Royals’ last 28 games. In regard to his new record, Witt said it just serves as motivation to keep getting better.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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