Royals' Bobby Witt Jr. joins elite company with 100th homer - ESPN

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Bobby Witt Jr. knew the ball was gone the moment it left his bat.

Only later did the young Kansas City Royals star realize what kind of company it allowed him to join.

The two-run shot in the eighth inning against Texas on Tuesday night merely padded the lead for Kansas City, which went on to a 5-2 victory. It was the fifth straight win for the Royals, who closed to within 2½ games of an American League wild-card berth.

But it also was the 100th career homer for Witt, making him the youngest in franchise history to reach that mark. He made it at the age of 25 years, 66 days, or more than a year earlier than Carlos Beltran when he accomplished the feat during the 2003 season.

«I want him up there every inning,» Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. «I mean, you look at the lineup and you're trying to figure out, 'How many times can we get to the plate? How many guys can we keep on base for him when he does come to the plate?'

»I mean, that's an immense amount of pressure on a younger player to understand that's how everybody feels about him," Quatraro said. «But he has the physical ability, the makeup and the mental capacity to handle it.»

The latest no-doubt shot, which came off Texas reliever Cole Winn and landed an estimated 449 feet to dead center field, made Witt only the fourth player with at least 100 homers and 100 stolen bases through his first four big league seasons. The others are Julio Rodríguez, Darryl Strawberry and Bobby Bonds.

Witt also becomes one of six shortstops in the past 95 years to hit at least 100 homers through his age-25 season. That list of luminaries includes Alex Rodriguez, Cal Ripken Jr., Francisco Lindor, Carlos Correa and Hanley Ramirez; of those players, only Rodriguez