The kids are all right

(MLB.com image)

Juan Soto, Victor Robles and Carter Kieboom each homer for Washington five years ago today in the Nationals’ 7-6 victory in 11 innings over the San Diego Padres before a Sunday afternoon crowd of 30,186 in D.C.

The homers – coming in successive innings – mark the first time in major league history that three teammates 21 or younger homer in the same game.

Soto is the first to homer with a three-run drive to center field off Padres starter Joey Lucchesi with one out in the bottom of the third inning.

The homer, Soto’s sixth of the season, cuts San Diego’s 6-0 lead in half.

Robles follows in the fourth inning with a solo homer – his fourth of the season – to left-center off Lucchesi to bring the Nationals even closer at 6-5.

Kieboom then ties the score with one out in the fifth inning on a solo homer to left, his second of the season.

The game later is decided by the over-30 Matt Adams, who after going hitless in his first five at-bats ends the game when he leads off the bottom of the 11th with a homer deep down the right-field line off Padres reliver Matt Wisler.

Since that game, though, Kieboom has hit just 10 home runs while bouncing back and forth from Washington to the minors, while Robles has only 24 homers in the ensuing five-plus seasons while trying to stay off the injured list.

As for Soto, he hits another 28 homers before the end of the 2019 season for the eventual World Series-winning Nationals, and now has 167 homers in a career heading toward a nine-figure payday when he becomes a free agent after the 2024 season.