Blue Jays Rookie J.P. Arencibia Shines in Debut

It is definitely a day that Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia will never forget. Not only did he make his Major League debut, but he went 4-5 with two home runs, in a 17-11 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. Arencibia's two blasts were part of an eight home run barrage by Toronto, tying a Major League record.

Arencibia was called up from AAA Las Vegas to take the place of injured catcher John Buck. Arencibia stepped in the box in the second inning against James Shields and promptly deposited the first pitch he saw in the left field bleachers. He followed that up with a double, then a single, and then another home run, this one of reliever Dale Thayer. He finally made an out in the seventh inning by fouling out to right. He drove in three runs on the day, while scoring three as well.

Home runs are nothing new to Arencibia as he led the Pacific Coast League in home runs this season, before his call up to the majors, with 31. He also was in the top five in runs batted in with 79. He most likely would have been a September call up for the Blue Jays, if Buck hadn't gone down with an injury.

Arencibia is from Miami, Florida and was a 17th round draft pick by the Seattle Mariners in 2004 coming out of high school. He decided to to go to college and attended the University of Tennessee. In 2007 he was taken in the first round, 21st overall, by the Blue Jays.

He is only the fourth player to hit two home runs in his first game in the majors since 1900. Mark Quinn did it in 1999 with the Kansas City Royals, Bert Campaneris did it in 1964 with the Kansas City A's, and Bob Nieman in 1951 with the St. Louis Browns.

Sources:
Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays boxscore 8/7/10, ESPN.com

J.P. Arencibia page, baseball-reference.com

Former Vol Arencibia Hits 2 Home Runs in MLB Debut, volunteertv.com