Unbelievable baseball feats from unlikely sources

If you didn't know who Scooter Gennett was before Tuesday night, you definitely do now. 

The Reds second baseman had the game of his life against the St. Louis Cardinals, smashing four home runs in his home town of Cincinnati. Only 17 players have hit four long balls in a single game in MLB history, with this 27-year-old possibly being the most unlikely.

Coming into Tuesday's game, Gennett had only 38 homers to his name over 502 career games in the MLB. His performance at Great American Ball Park accounts for 9.5 per cent of his career home run production.    

Gennett isn't the only ball player to shock fans with an out-of-nowhere performance. With the sport being played every single day, just when you think you've seen everything, something ever crazier happens the following week.

Check out some other memorable performances from unlikely sources.  

Braden throws perfect game on Mother's Day

Left-handed pitcher Dallas Braden had a short career in the Majors, posting a 26-36 record with a 4.16 ERA over five seasons with the Oakland Athletics.

Braden probably wouldn't be a household name among baseball fans if it wasn't for his remarkable pitching performance on Mother's Day in 2010.

The 24th round pick allowed no hits, no walks and struck out six as Braden threw a perfect game to down the Tampa Bay Rays 4-0. Braden lost his mother to skin cancer when he was in high school, making the day even more memorable.

"It hasn't been a joyous day [Mother's Day] for me in a while," Braden told ESPN after the game. "With my grandma in the stands, it makes it a lot better."

It was the 19th perfect game in MLB history at the time. There have only been four since. 

Humber stuns baseball world with perfect game

Philip Humber may have one-upped Braden with his pitching performance on April 21, 2012 in Seattle. 

After seeing little to no action with New York Mets, Minnesota Twins and Kansas Royals, Humber finally found himself in a starter's role for the second straight season with Chicago White Sox in 2012. 

In just his second start of that season, the Texan threw a perfect game with nine Ks against the Seattle Mariners in a 4-0 win. 

It's safe to say no one saw that one coming. 

Humber finished the season with a .500 record and an ERA over six. He was out of the league by the end of the 2013 campaign.

Wood strikes out 20 in just his fifth career start

The Chicago Cubs selected six-foot-five pitcher Kerry Wood straight out of high school with the fourth overall pick of the 1995 MLB Amateur Draft. Three years later, the 20-year-old Wood was ready for the big time and made the team's Opening Day roster. 

Through his first four starts, the righty was just OK (for a rookie pitcher), posting a 2-2 record with a 5.89 ERA. In his fifth start on May 6, 1998, Wood shocked the baseball world on a memorable afternoon at Wrigley Field.

Wood threw a complete game shutout and allowed just a single hit as the Cubs beat the Houston Astros 2-0. A terrific feat for any first year hurler, however, his 20 strikeouts made it one of the greatest single game pitching performances in MLB history.  

At the time, only one other pitcher had sat down 20 batters in a game as Rogers Clemens did it twice in 1986 and 1996. 

"That's the greatest thrill anyone could have, to be associated with Roger," Wood told the Chicago Tribune following the game. "He's a great pitcher and he has established himself. I'm still trying to settle in a little."

Hall of Famer Randy Johnson got to 20 in 2001 for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer did it most recently last season. Tom Cheney holds the record with 21 Ks for the Washington Senators in 1962, but got 16 innings to accomplish the feat. 

Wood finished his rookie campaign with a 13-6 record and a 3.40 ERA, good enough to claim the National League Rookie of the Year award. Unfortunately Wood missed the entire 1999 season due to Tommy John surgery and struggled to find consistency for the rest of his 14-year career, despite making two All-Star appearances in 2003 and 2008.

Whiten hits record-tying 12 RBIs

Mark Whiten had the best season of his career in 1993, thanks in large part to a 12 RBI day on September 7. 

The right-handed hitting member of the St. Louis Cardinals, who was originally drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in 1986, wasn't known for being a slugger, but had the game of his life against the Reds. All of his four hits left the yard with a grand slam in the first inning, a three-run shot in the sixth, another three run homer in the next inning and finally capping it with a two-run job in the ninth.  

His four home runs and 12 RBIs are both record tying feats. Jim Bottomley, also a Cardinal, is the only other player to record 12 RBIs in a single game, doing so in 1924. Whiten became the 12th player to accomplish the four homer feat. Five have done it since in Shawn Green, Mike Cameron, Carlos Delgado, Josh Hamilton and Gennett.  

His 25 homers and 99 RBIs that season were the most - by a wide margin - of his 11-year career and he never made an All-Star Game.