CLEVELAND (AP) — Chase DeLauter has developed a knack for memorable openers.
DeLauter became the first Cleveland player to make his major league debut in last year’s AL Wild Card series against Detroit.
On March 26 at Seattle, DeLauter became the seventh player since 1889 to hit two home runs in his first major league regular-season game.
So, it wasn’t a surprise that DeLauter achieved another milestone on Friday. His two-run homer in the seventh inning of the Guardians’ 4-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs made him the first Cleveland player since Joe Charboneau in 1980 to homer in both their first regular-season home and away game.
“Coming in here, packed house, first game, beautiful day. It was a good feeling to get that one. That’s as good as you can dream it up” said DeLauter, who went 3 for 4 and drove in three runs.
DeLauter tied it at 1-1 in the fifth inning with a base hit to left to drive in Daniel Schneemann. After Gabriel Arias’ homer put Cleveland on top 2-1 in the seventh, DeLauter drove a 96.6 mph fastball by Hunter Harvey 402 feet into the right-field stands to extend the Guardians’ lead.
DeLauter said he immediately knew it was gone.
“When they come off like that, sometimes you just kind of know,” he said. “I think he went five straight heaters. So, just kind of looking for something up in the zone and got a good pitch a hit.”
The only thing that went wrong for DeLauter is that he didn’t time his home run celebration with Steven Kwan. DeLauter nearly took out Kwan’s shoulder when they met at home plate.
“That one was my fault. He went in for high five. I went in for a hug and a bad combination there. We’ll get it figured out for sure,” DeLauter said.
DeLauter’s five home runs are tied with the Athletics’ Shea Langeliers for the AL lead. According to MLB, He is the fourth player with at least five home runs through his first seven regular-season games. Colorado’s Trevor Story had seven in 2016 while Kansas City’s Mark Quinn in 1999 and Cincinnati’s Rece Hinds in 2024 both had five.
He is the first Cleveland player to homer in four of his first seven games. He went deep in the Guardians’ first three games at Seattle, but was 1 for 12 in his last four games coming into the home opener. He missed Wednesday’s series finale against the Los Angeles Dodgers after fouling a ball off his left foot on Tuesday.
“Like we talked about back in the postseason, this kid’s comfortable. He’s not big eyed and he’s doing a phenomenal job for us. It’s a really fun start for him this year,” manager Stephen Vogt said.
Friday also marked DeLauter’s second three-hit game after he went 3 for 5 in Cleveland’s 6-4 victory over Seattle on opening day.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a surprise. I’m a hitter, so it’s something I look forward to every day,” said DeLauter, who has a .346 batting average with eight RBIs and a 1.293 OPS.
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