Tyler Tolbert Ties All-Time MLB Record With A Hit In 12 Consecutive Plate Appearances

Tyler Tolbert was a career .247 hitter in 85 major league at-bats with no home runs before Saturday. He batted ninth for the Kansas City Royals, one of the worst teams in baseball. Nobody had him on any list of players who might make MLB history. Baseball had other plans.

Tolbert tied the all-time MLB record Tuesday night in a wild 16-12 Royals win over the Mets in New York by recording a hit in his 12th consecutive plate appearance, an infield single in the seventh inning that matched the record shared by Johnny Kling in 1902, Pinky Higgins in 1938 and Walt Dropo in 1952.

He is the first player in the expansion era, since 1961, to accomplish the feat measuring plate appearances rather than at-bats.

The streak started Saturday with a weak infield hit against Philadelphia.

It included his first career home run on Monday, then a second home run Tuesday. He went 5-for-5 on Monday and 5-for-5 again on Tuesday, making him only the third player in MLB history with back-to-back five-hit games, joining Hi Myers in 1917 and Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente in 1970.

His batting average was .200 before the streak. It is now .396.

He came to the plate in the ninth inning Tuesday with a chance to break the record outright. He flied out to right.

He still tied it, and he became part of baseball history while hitting ninth for a losing team in the middle of July. You truly cannot predict baseball.