Franco Becomes 3rd Rookie in MLB History with Consecutive 5-RBI Games

Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Maikel Franco had another huge night against the New York Yankees on Tuesday, becoming just the third rookie in MLB history to record five RBI in consecutive games, as well as the first player ever to have five RBI in back-to-back games against the Yankees, per the Elias Sports Bureau (via ESPN Stats & Info).

On the heels of a four-hit, two-homer, five-RBI performance in Monday’s 11-8 win over the Bronx Bombers, Franco collected two hits in three at-bats during Tuesday’s 11-6 victory, also drawing a walk and getting hit by a pitch.

His night started off innocently enough, with a groundout in his first at-bat, followed by a walk in his second.

Franco then got the best of Yankees starter CC Sabathia in his third plate appearance, hitting a three-run homer in the fourth inning to give the Phillies a 6-3 lead.

After getting hit by a pitch in the seventh inning, Franco smacked a two-run double off of near-unhittable Yankees reliever Dellin Betances in the top of the ninth, turning a 6-6 tie into an 8-6 lead.

The Phillies extended the lead to 11-6 by the end of the inning, and they’ve now shockingly scored 31 runs over the last three games, having previously beaten the St. Louis Cardinals by a score of 9-2 on Sunday.

Although the three-game winning streak is meaningless in the context of a lost season, Franco’s emergence has been the highlight of the year for a rebuilding franchise.

After struggling mightily during a brief stint (56 at-bats) in the majors last year, the rookie owns a .319/.368/.604 batting line through 37 games this season, with 10 home runs, 20 extra-base hits, 29 RBI, 23 runs and a stolen base in 144 at-bats.

He has made six errors at the hot corner, but even so, he’s already been worth 1.7 Wins Above Replacement (WAR), according to FanGraphs.

That figure puts him 10th among all third basemen this season, and only 10 players at any position have accumulated more WAR than Franco (1.5) over the last 30 days.

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