D-Backs' Gurriel Jr. Talks MLB Record After HR on 103.9 MPH Pitch, 'Not That Easy'

This won't come as a surprise, but hitting a ball that's traveling nearly 104 mph is difficult.

In the eighth inning Tuesday night, Arizona Diamondbacks designated hitter Lourdes Gurriel Jr. turned around on a fastball by the San Diego Padres' Mason Miller and delivered a game-tying home run.

Miller reached 103.9 mph on the radar gun, making it the fastest pitch since at least 2008 to result in a homer, per MLB.com's Sarah Langs.

"It's something that just happened," Gurriel said of the moment. "You know, it's not that easy. I just reacted to it. I'm glad that [it] happened."

Gurriel saw seven pitches in the at-bat, five of which eclipsed 100 mph. The one before the home run had a velocity of 104.1 mph.

"You know, big league hitters will get wood on a bullet," Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. "You just start to gauge it, the more you see it, the more in sync you get with it. It's just about getting your hands back, your front foot down, and just setting your boundary, setting your marker, and just saying, 'This is where it's going to be, and I'm going to put my barrel on the ball.'"

Unfortunately for Arizona, Gurriel's heroics were all for naught. The Padres put five runs on the board in the 11th inning to win 10-5.

Still, the 2023 All-Star managed to carve out a small place in MLB history.