San Francisco Giants third baseman Pablo
Sandoval tied a World Series record with three home runs during the National
League champions' 8-3 Game 1 victory over the Detroit Tigers.
Sandoval delivered a solo homer off Justin Verlander in the bottom of the
first inning, then cracked a two-run blast against the Detroit ace in the
third. He would become only the third player in World Series history to go
deep three times in a single game -- and first to do so in his first
three at-bats -- when he connected off reliever Al Alburquerque in the
fifth.
The All-Star slugger joins some very select company, with Babe Ruth, Reggie
Jackson and Albert Pujols the only ones to previously accomplish the feat.
Ruth did it in both the 1926 and '28 World Series, Jackson in the 1977
Fall Classic and Pujols during the St. Louis Cardinals' win over the Texas
Rangers in last year's Game 3.
"Man, I still can't believe it," Sandoval said afterward. "When you're a
little kid, you dream of being in the World Series, but I was thinking of
being in this situation, three homers in one game."
Sandoval finished the game 4-for-4 with four runs batted in and is now batting
.429 (18-for-42) with six homers and 13 RBI over his last 10 games.
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