A's prospect Denzel Clarke becomes first player to hit 2 inside-the-park home runs in 2 games

One Oakland A’s prospect made history this week.

Denzel Clarke, an outfielder for the Lansing Lugnuts and the 15th-ranked prospect in the A’s organization, became the first professional baseball player to hit two inside-the-park home runs in two straight games.

First, Clarke hit a two-run homer in Lansing’s 15-8 loss to West Michigan on Tuesday after he hit a shot into the left field wall. That marked the first inside-the-park home run for a Lugnuts player since 2018.

Then on Wednesday, when the Lugnuts beat the West Michigan Whitecaps 8-1, Clarke hit a deep ball into right field that bounced off the wall and back past the outfielders. He made it home without any attempt to get him out.

Clarke is now the first Lugnuts player to have two of those home runs in the same season since 2015. Clarke, who was selected in the fourth round of the 2021 draft, has 12 home runs in total on the season. He was promoted from the A’s Single-A team to Lansing, their High-A team, in June, and participated in the All-Star Futures Game earlier this summer.

A few others in history have come close to a similar feat. According to MLB.com, three players have hit an inside-the-park home run twice in a single game — most recently in 1987 by Ruben Sierra.

Clarke, however, is in a class of his own.