7 HRs in 1 inning? Tatis Jr. did it in The Show!

If MLB records carried over to the virtual world, Fernando Tatis Jr. would’ve spent his Saturday night penciling his name in the history books.

The 21-year-old Padres shortstop had already captivated his audience in the MLB The Show Players League with his enthusiasm and his entertaining reactions early in the tournament, and he continued to do so on Saturday, launching seven home runs in one inning against the Cardinals' Matt Carpenter.

• Players League standings, schedule, video

In his third game of the night, Tatis entered the second inning with a 2-1 lead before the Home Run Derby began. He hit his first homer with Francisco Mejía and let out a quick yell in celebration. His second homer, a two-run shot by Tommy Pham, prompted a more prolonged scream. Then, after the third long ball of the frame coming off the bat of Eric Hosmer, Tatis let out his first “Yee-haw.”

The damage didn’t stop there. With one out, Tatis smacked his fourth homer with Jurickson Profar before hitting another with Mejía. Then, with two outs, Tatis' virtual character stepped up to the plate. The man who Padres fans know as “El Niño” hit a two-run blast to make it a 15-1 lead.

After the homer, Tatis screamed, "El Niño! Wow, you’re so good, man. I’m your No. 1 fan, bro. I’m you’re No. 1 fan, Niño.”

Tatis' seventh and final home run came on a two-run shot by Hosmer, and he had no celebratory responses left in him. All the Padres shortstop could do was laugh, as the score ran up to a whopping 17-1. The Major League record for most homers in an inning is five, which has been done by six teams, the most recent being the Nationals (July 27, 2017, vs. the Brewers).

“He’s the greatest player on Earth,” Carpenter said of Tatis with a chuckle.

That offensive outburst was just part of a big night for Tatis, who improved to 9-3 with a perfect 4-0 showing against Blake Snell (Rays), Cole Tucker (Pirates), Carpenter and Eduardo Rodriguez (Red Sox). Snell entered the night 10-2, and his only loss came to Tatis as he improved his American League East-leading record to 13-3.

Call your shot
Babe Ruth isn’t the only one to call his shot. In extra innings, Rhys Hoskins gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead over the Pirates with his own virtual character. Just before he saw himself walk up to the plate, Hoskins said, “Somebody hit a homer.” When he stepped into the box, he said, "All right, we got a guy.”

As the first pitch of the at-bat was being released from the pitcher’s hand, Tucker said, “If you hit a homer, I will name my first-born child after …” and in that moment, Hoskins launched the ball deep over the left-field wall.

“Rhys Tucker’s got a nice ring to it,” Tucker joked.

"Thank you, Tucker. Bye-bye.”
The Tatis Show was a two-hour event. His seven-homer inning was enough to make the headlines, but earlier in the night, he also had a walk-off victory against Tucker and the Pirates in the bottom of the fourth. With a runner on first, Trent Grisham hit a ball off the top of the right-field fence that plated the winning run, causing Tatis to get out of his seat and dance in celebration. After a few minutes relishing in his victorious moment, he sat back down and yelled out, “Thank you, Tucker! Bye-bye!”

Inside-the-parkers
The Players League featured two inside-the-park home runs Saturday night. In the third inning against Brett Phillips (Royals), Juan Soto (Nationals) called on Eric Thames to pinch-hit, as Washington trailed, 4-0. Phillips was excited to see his former teammate coming to the plate and said, “Here you go Eric, here’s a cookie. See how far you can hit it.”

A hot shot down the right-field line became an inside-the-park home run when Phillips couldn't get his right fielder to pick up the ball in the corner and, instead, was running circles around it. But he got his redemption later in the evening.

Hitting with himself at the plate against Ty Buttrey and the Angels, Phillips served a base hit into left-center field that split the outfielders and rolled all the way to the wall. As he made his turn around third, the throw came in to third behind him and he was able to score easily, as he got out of his chair, howling. When Phillips sat back down, he couldn’t wipe the smile off his face and said, “That is hype!”

Sunday’s games to watch
There will be a handful of players who will play on back-to-back nights this weekend, including Soto, Carpenter, David Dahl (Rockies), Hoskins and Lance McCullers Jr. (Astros). Keep an eye on Soto, who, after starting the tournament 1-6, seems to be heating up after going 3-1 on Saturday.

As far as the rested players hopping back into the action on Sunday, Joey Gallo continues to be the one to beat. He currently sports an 11-1 record and is slated to match up against Carpenter, Dwight Smith Jr. (Orioles), Niko Goodrum (Tigers) and Dahl. Smith has also been hot, owning a 9-3 record, and he could take advantage of a group that will also include Carl Edwards Jr. (Mariners), Ian Happ (Cubs), Jeff McNeil (Mets), Hunter Pence (Giants), Carlos Santana (Indians) and Ryne Stanek (Marlins).

Where to watch
Over the next few weeks, the league will be livestreamed on MLB social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Twitch), MLB Network's Twitch site, "MLB The Show" social media (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Twitch), the clubs’ social media accounts and MLB.com. Each player will also stream it from their individual Twitch or YouTube accounts.

Aside from those streams, in order to provide a full gameday experience, MLB Network will provide a livestream in which it will select the best one-on-one matchups and look into other game results and friendly banter.