In a series opener between two of the most storied franchises, a visiting player made some history of his own on Monday night. 

St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Alec Burleson entered Monday's game at New York's Yankee Stadium having not homered since July 8. But he ended up leaving the night with three on the board for August. 

With home runs in the first, fourth and eighth innings, Burleson recorded the first three-homer game of his career as the driving force of the Cardinals' 13-7 win over the Yankees. 

Aled Burleson's puts up rare three-HR performance for visiting player at Yankee Stadium

Burleson's trifecta of home runs was also monumental in another way, as he became the first visiting player to club three home runs at Yankee Stadium since Jordan Díaz launched three of his own for the then Oakland Athletics on May 9, 2023. 

Burleson's multi-homer heroics further a season that's on pace to be the best of his five-year career to date. He now has 18 home runs, 77 RBI, 60 runs scored, 27 doubles and a slash line of .288/.350/.480 in 431 at-bats within 112 games so far in 2026.

Burleson is on the verge of new career-highs 

He's now just four home runs and two RBI shy of setting new single-season highs. His 27 doubles are one more than his 2025 total when he earned a Silver Slugger Award in 139 games. 

Overall in 526 games through the middle of his fifth season, all with the Cardinals, Burleson has 66 home runs, 263 RBI, 223 runs, 501 hits and 94 doubles. His cumulative career batting average sits at .273 to go along with a .327 OBP and a .436 slugging. 

Thanks to Burleson's special night, the much-needed victory for the Cardinals moved their record to one game shy of .500 at 56-57.