It’s a very rare combination and one that was very profitable for those fortunate enough to own him in fantasy leagues; Adam Jones knocked in five runs and stole two bases Saturday in Baltimore’s 8-4 win over Oakland.
Jones had a three-run homer off Jason Hammel in the first inning and then a two-run single in the fourth. Both times, he drove in Nick Markakis and Steve Pearce, the two guys hitting ahead of him in the Baltimore lineup. Those two reached base safely eight tiems in all.
Jones’ steals came after the single in the fourth and after he reached on a fielder’s choice in the seventh. It was just the third two-steal game of his career; he entered with a total of four steals this season.
That made Jones the first player since the Pirates’ Matt Lawton in 2005 to amass five RBI and two steals in the same game. Lawton did it in a 16-2 win over the Diamondbacks. Carlos Guillen is the other player to accomplish it since 2000, driving in six (without the benefit of a homer) and stealing two bases for the Tigers in an 11-10 defeat of the Mariners in 2004.
In all, 23 players since 1914 have had five RBI and two steals in a game. Rogers Hornsby, Mickey Mantle, Mickey Cochrane and Gary Sheffield are some other famous names to pull it off. Oddly enough, Dante Bichette did it twice two years apart for the Rockies. Both games were against San Diego: a 12-7 win on June 27, 1994 and an 8-5 victory on July 11, 1996.