CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Emaarion Boyd became the first minor league player in at least 20 years to steal six bases in a game without getting a hit when he pulled off the feat for High-A Beloit (Wisconsin) against Cedar Rapids.
Boyd, batting ninth and playing center field in the 10-0 win Wednesday night, reached on a fielder's choice, walk and hit by pitch. He stole second and third base each time.
He walked again with none out in the ninth inning but couldn't steal any more bases because a runner was in front of him.
“I thought it would be even more crazy if I got eight,” Boyd told The Associated Press on Thursday. “I wish I could have had two more. It would have been really crazy then.”
Boyd was an 11th-round pick by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2022 Major League Baseball amateur draft. He was part of a December trade for left-handed pitcher Jesús Luzardo that sent Boyd to the Miami Marlins.
The 21-year-old has 98 steals in 203 minor league games, with 83 in 187 games over the 2023 and 2024 seasons at Single-A Clearwater and High-A Jersey Shore.
“I just really try to be better than the pitcher and catcher when I get on base and get a good enough or perfect jump,” he said, “and then I use my God-given talent.”
According to MLB.com, no minor league player since at least 2005 had stolen six bases without getting a hit. Boyd also stole six bases in a game for Clearwater in 2023, but he had a hit.
No player has stolen six bases with no hits in a major league game since at least 1901.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
The Associated Press
