Bregman's big day surpasses Barry Bonds, but not his father

HOUSTON -- Astros manager Dusty Baker said third baseman Alex Bregman’s performance Saturday afternoon was “like a Barry Bonds day,” but not even Bonds did what Bregman achieved in a 9-6 win over the Angels at Minute Maid Park.

Well, not Barry Bonds, anyway.

Bregman joined J.D. Martinez and Bobby Bonds -- Barry’s father -- as the only players since 1974 to have a grand slam and four walks in a game. And Bregman is the only player in the modern era to draw at least four walks while hitting a grand slam in his only official at-bat, according to OptaSTATS. Bregman's grand slam capped a five-run fourth inning for the Astros, who saw eight of their nine starters get hits while going 6-for-11 with runners in scoring position to win for the 18th time in their past 23 games.

“That was great,” said Baker, who managed Barry Bonds with the Giants from 1993-02. “He’s getting on base and setting the table for other guys and he cleaned the table with that one slam. I almost didn’t know how many runs we were going to need today, but we won the ballgame.”

“I think it’s similar to a few years back when I was walking a lot,” Bregman said. “Honestly, just trying to stick to the approach and swing at good pitches to hit. I got in a kind of swing mode the last three weeks. I was feeling a little bit better, so I started swinging a little bit more.”

Bregman, who led the American League with 119 walks in 2019, drew three four-pitch walks and one five-pitch walk Saturday. Of the 19 pitches he saw Saturday, only two were strikes. He’s walked 34 times and struck out 26 times in 256 plate appearances this year.

“He’s not chasing much,” Baker said. “I told him the other day, two days ago, he had a very good tempo with the swing, and it’s very fluid now and on time. You know he was going to get it, but he works hard at it daily. I’m just glad it arrived right on time.”

A notorious slow starter, Bregman was slashing .195/.322/.320 with four homers and 15 RBIs through the team’s first 34 games. The Astros were 17-17 at that point, but he’s slashed .330/.404/.516 with four homers and 21 RBIs in 24 games since, which pretty much coincides with the Astros’ recent surge.

“He’s amazing,” right fielder Chas McCormick said. “He gets like this, though. Even when he gets in his little slump, he turns it on and he just never looks back. He just has a great approach. He’s never overswinging. He’s always taking good pitches. That’s what makes him elite. He has a great zone and he works really hard every day. It’s fun to watch him.”

Bregman will rarely tell you he feels comfortable at the plate, and that’s true even though he’s hitting .417 during a 10-game hitting streak.

“To be completely honest, it just feels alright,” he said. “It doesn’t feel great. Just battling. You go in there and compete every single day and that’s all you can in the box.”

Bregman hit second in Baker’s batting order for much of the season before being moved to the fourth spot May 26. That puts him after Yordan Alvarez and before Kyle Tucker on most nights, though Tucker had the day off Saturday.

“To be honest, wherever Dusty puts me in the lineup all I want to do is go out and compete and try and put together good at-bats, regardless of where I am,” Bregman said.

While Bregman’s homer off Angels starter Patrick Sandoval traveled 345 feet and landed in the front row of the Crawford Boxes -- it would not have been a homer at any other ballpark, according to Statcast -- McCormick hit a 381-foot rocket to right field in the seventh off reliever Ben Joyce. He turned on a 102.5-mph fastball, making it the hardest pitch any player has homered against this year.

“He throws really hard,” McCormick said. "You just have to shorten up and put a good swing on it. You’ve got to be early. Thankfully, he was throwing away to me. If he went inside, I probably would have been beat. I feel like I didn’t even hit it that well.”