MILWAUKEE — Christian Yelich of the Milwaukee Brewers has become the first player to win an MVP award and then hit a home run in each of the first three games of the next season.
Yelich connected in the first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Miller Park on Saturday. After leading the Brewers with 36 home runs last year, he is the first player in franchise history to homer in each of the first three games of a season.
The major league record for home runs to start a year is four games. Five players have accomplished that feat: Willie Mays (1971), Mark McGwire (1998), Nelson Cruz (2011), Chris Davis (2013) and Trevor Story (2016).
Barry Bonds in 2002 and Albert Pujols in 2006 homered in the first two games of the season after winning MVP awards.
Yelich also made an early sliding catch in right field for the NL Central champion Brewers.