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Big League Stew

George Springer achieved a home run feat we haven't seen in 27 years

·Yahoo Sports Contributor

April 6, 2017 at 11:26 PM

George Springer hit a walk-off homer for the Houston Astros on Wednesday night in the bottom of the 13th inning to beat the Seattle Mariners, 5-3.

After a long night and tense game, you’d think the Mariners pitching staff would’ve spent the next 24 hours thinking about what went wrong and how they could’ve gotten past Springer. They would’ve reviewed film, received new scouting reports or at the very least consulted with teammates about what they saw.

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All of which is to say that by the time Springer walked up to the plate in the bottom of the first inning for the series finale with Seattle, the Mariners should’ve been ready for him.

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They were not.

George Springer rounds the bases after hitting a leadoff home run off in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

Even the announcers knew the ball was gone the moment it made contact with the bat. It was a menacing shot, but the velocity wasn’t the most impressive part.

That blast makes Springer the first player in 27 years to hit a walk-off and leadoff homer back-to-back. The last to do so was Roberto Kelly in August of 1990 with the New York Yankees.

It was also a remarkably similar home run to the one that gave Houston the win on Wednesday.

Springer has now racked up three homers this season and they’ve all come in either the first or final inning of Astros’ games. They’ve all occurred at home, too, but that’s nitpicking even for baseball stats — which is saying something. Not to mention Houston has only played home games so far this season.

Regardless, starters and closers beware George Springer’s bat. Middle relievers, you guys are in the clear.

More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:

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Blake Schuster is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at blakeschuster@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Schustee

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