While many of us were sleeping late Saturday night, Amherst native Jonah Heim was having the best game at the plate of his young career in Major League Baseball for the Texas Rangers.
The Texas catcher went 3 for 5 – including a two-run homer off Los Angeles ace Trevor Bauer – as the Rangers drubbed the Dodgers, 12-1, in Dodger Stadium. The win snapped a 16-game road losing streak for Texas that had tied a franchise record and reversed a 12-1 loss to the Dodgers on Friday night.
.@Jonah_heim6 touches ‘em all. 😉 pic.twitter.com/lgmvBCOoOt
— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) June 13, 2021
Heim, who finished a triple short of the cycle, had the first three-hit game of his MLB career and the home run was his third of the season. He got another start in Sunday's 5-3 loss and went 2 for 3 with a walk. The 5-for-8 weekend put Heim's batting average for the season at .205 – but he's batting .264 since May 1 after a 3-for-30 April.
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Heim also got to wear the cowboy hat the Rangers award to the player of the game after each victory. Heim is scheduled to return home next month as the Rangers play a three-game series in Sahlen Field against the Toronto Blue Jays that's set for July 16-18.
🔋 pic.twitter.com/yX7zDPwaLA
— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) June 13, 2021
Saturday's win had a second Buffalo connection as Los Angeles utility infielder and longtime Bisons standout Andy Burns got his first MLB callup since 2016. Burns collected his first hit in the big leagues on an infield chopper and even served as a mop-up pitcher in the ninth inning, allowing Texas' final two runs.
Burns became the fifth positional player in the post-1961 expansion era to pitch in his first game with a team but the second this season, joining Cincinnati's Mike Freeman.
Burns played 355 games for the Bisons in 2015-16 and 2019, spending the three interceding years playing in the Korean pro league.
First hit as a Dodger for @BauerOutage. First MLB hit for Andy Burns. pic.twitter.com/y203VvOPdn
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 13, 2021
