Three Homers in a Loss Not so Rare

We all know by now that Miguel Cabrera hit three homers in a 5-4 loss to the Athletics on Friday night.  But how rare of an event was that?  Andy at Baseball-Reference printed a list of  77 players who have hit three homers in a loss.  It includes all the players who did it in years for which box scores are available.  There were a five other Tigers on that list besides Cabrera:

• Carlos Pena hit three homers in a 10-9 loss to the Indians on May 19, 2003.  One might have expected that something like this would have happened in 2003.

• Cecil Fielder cleared the fence three times in an 11-7 loss to the Blue Jays on May 6, 1990.

• Bill Freehan hit three round trippers as the Tigers lost to the Red Sox 12-11 on August 9, 1971.

• Rocky Colavito slugged three homers in a 7-6 loss to the Indians on July 5, 1962.

• Steve Boros hit three bombs as the Tigers dropped a 6-5 decision to the Indians on August 6, 1962.  Boros was the biggest surprise on the list as he only hit 26 career home runs.  He did whack 16 in 1962 though.

Andy also determined that about 17%  (77 out of 442) of games where players hit three homers resulted in losses.  So, Cabrera's day was a little unusual but not outrageously rare.