According to ESPN Sports and Information, the last player before Andre Ethier on Tuesday to get the first two hits for a team in a single inning was Derek Jeter of the Yankees against Tampa Bay in the eighth inning, August 8, 2001. Two Jeter singles sandwiched five walks, a hit batter and two outs.
Before that, believe it or not, it last happened in a Padres-Dodgers game, with Greg Vaughn doing it against Los Angeles in the sixth inning on September 12, 1998. And I guarantee you’re going to shake your head at the pitchers involved.
With a 7-3 lead, Dave Mlicki gave up a leadoff single to Vaughn and forced him home with three walks. Sean Maloney (14 career games) relieved and hit one batter and walked the next to make it a one-run game. The next reliever was the storied Jeff Kubenka (12 career games), who gave up a game-tying sacrifice fly to Quilvio Veras and then got a second flyball out from Steve Finley.
Kubenka then walked Mark Sweeney to load the bases again. The next batteer was Vaughn, who singled in the go-ahead run before Matt Luke (who had five RBI) threw out Chris Gomez at the plate to end the inning. San Diego won by that 8-7 score.
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