Betts makes history with 5 homers in 2 games

There aren't many people with a more disarming nickname than Markus Lynn Betts - that sinewy, thinly mustached Boston Red Sox outfielder known to friends and strangers as Mookie.

Mookie is a cartoon cat, or a banjo-wielding goofball that might share a stage with Raffi. Mookie definitely isn't a baseball-mashing menace, and he certainly isn't the best player on a team that employs Xander Bogaerts and David Ortiz.

Well, the Baltimore Orioles might beg to differ.

Over the last two nights, Mookie has been a man possessed at Camden Yards, recording his first career three-homer game Tuesday before smashing another two home runs in Wednesday's 13-9 shootout. In a span of about 28 hours, Betts increased his OPS by 84 points, reaching base in seven of his last 10 plate appearances while driving in seven runs and scoring five times himself.

Let's recap:

"This is probably the best night," Betts told reporters after propelling his club to a 6-2 victory. "It's the first time I've ever done that. I was able to make a play behind Robbie Ross, too, so putting the whole game together, I think it was the best day."

Sure, fine, that was the best night, but Wednesday was a pretty good night, too:

Mookie's magical two-game stretch conferred upon the 23-year-old a few historical distinctions, too. To wit:

• Betts, the fourth-youngest player in Red Sox history to record a three-homer game, now shares the MLB record for home runs in a two-game span (5), but is the only leadoff hitter to accomplish the feat, according to ESPN.

• Betts is now the first player in MLB history to homer in the first and second innings in consecutive games.

• Having improved his isolated power to .261 through 53 games, Betts is on pace for 89 extra-base hits in 2016 - three shy of Jimmie Foxx's single-season franchise record.

• Over the course of seven at-bats, Betts clobbered as many home runs as the Atlanta Braves did in April.