Nick Kurtz had quietly been one of the most exciting players in baseball since his arrival. On Friday night against the Houston Astros, he turned up the volume

This was becoming clear even before the four homer game. His OPS was .982, for crying out loud. He had homered seven times in his previous 16 games. The gasps and whispers had already started.

Nick Kurtz made baseball history on Friday night, becoming the first MLB rookie ever to hit four home runs in a single game, during the Athletics’ 15-3 win over the Houston Astros.