Listen to this articleLast Updated on October 4, 2023 by Matt Musico
One of the great things about baseball is that anything can happen on any given night. The worst team can toss a no-hitter, and the best team can get blown out by 15 runs. That’s the beauty of the game. Today, we’re covering one of those anomalies by looking at each squad’s franchise record for most home runs in a game and ranking them accordingly.
There are obviously lots of ties, as well as many teams who have reached their respective record more than once. So, this is what I did to condense/organize the nonsense. There are five major categories separated by number of home runs hit (six, seven, eight, nine, and 10). If there are multiple teams within each category, they’re ranked by date of occurrence, with the most recent ones being at the top.
I also tried to find as many videos as possible. It wasn’t possible for several based on when it happened, but I at least attempted to find footage of one or two of the dingers that took place on any given day. And, as always, I add a little more information/context for each. Enjoy.
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Most Home Runs in a Game
10 Home Runs
Toronto Blue Jays: September 14th, 1987
As you can imagine, the Blue Jays won this game against the Orioles by a score of 18-3. When looking at the line score, 12 of these runs came in two separate innings: five in the second and another seven in the seventh.
Three players enjoyed multi-homer performances for Toronto. This includes Ernie Whitt (three), Rance Mulliniks (two), and George Bell (two). Lloyd Moseby, Rob Ducey, and Fred McGriff all added one dinger each.
9 Home Runs
Cincinnati Reds: September 4th, 1999
Like the Blue Jays, the Reds get a section dedicated to just them. That’ll happen when you hit nine homers in one game and set the National League record. This performance came against the Phillies, who Cincy soundly clobbered by a score of 22-3 at Veterans Stadium.
Only Ed Taubensee enjoyed a multi-homer game, hitting two. He was joined by Aaron Boone, Dmitri Young, Jeffrey Hammonds, Pokey Reese, Brian Johnson, Mark Lewis, and Greg Vaughn, who slugged his 30th dinger of the year.
8 Home Runs
Los Angeles Dodgers: July 10th, 2021
The Dodgers have slugged eight homers in a game twice. They did it over a three-season span — the first instance was in 2019 before this most recent one. Both just so happened to come against the Diamondbacks. L.A. beat Arizona 22-1 in front of their home fans.
Albert Pujols and AJ Pollock each hit two homers. They were joined by Cody Bellinger, Justin Turner, Mookie Betts, and Zach McKinstry, who each hit one.
Arizona Diamondbacks: June 10th, 2019
Exactly a month before the Diamondbacks watched the Dodgers stomp all over them, they hit eight homers in a game themselves. It was a good old-fashioned slugfest at Citizens Bank Park, too. Arizona and the Phillies combined for 13 homers, but the DBacks won 13-8.
Eduardo Escobar and Ildemaro Vargas each slugged two, while Jarrod Dyson, Ketel Marte, and David Peralta all went deep in the first inning. Alex Avila added one, as well.
Minnesota Twins: May 23rd, 2019
This is the third straight instance of a team setting or tying a single-game franchise home run record during 2019. The Twins ended up setting a season-long MLB record with 307 home runs as a team that year.
This marked the third time Minnesota slugged eight dingers in one game, and the second time they had done it in just about a month. The first occurrence happened in 1963, and it didn’t happen again until April 20th, 2019…and then again on May 23, 2019.
The Angels were on the receiving end, as the Twins won 16-7 at Angel Stadium. Jonathan Schoop and Miguel Sano each hit two homers. They were joined by Jorge Polanco, C.J. Cron, Max Kepler, and Eddie Rosario.
Washington Nationals: July 27th, 2017
Max Scherzer usually didn’t need a ton of run support during his time with the Nationals. So, Washington hitting eight homers during one of his starts was just the cherry on top.
The Nats won 15-2 over the Brewers. Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman both went deep twice. Brian Goodwin, Wilmer Difo, Anthony Rendon, and Jose Lobaton all joined the party, as well.
New York Mets: August 24th, 2015
The Mets spotted the Phillies three runs in the first inning and were down 7-2 at one point before coming back to win 16-7. This record-setting night was started by David Wright homering in the second inning. It was his first game back after getting diagnosed with spinal stenosis.
Juan Lagares, Travis d’Arnaud, Michael Cuddyer, Daniel Murphy, and Yoenis Cespedes also went deep, while Wilmer Flores added two.
Baltimore Orioles: June 16, 2015
The Phillies are victimized by the long ball again. But this time, it was on the road at Camden Yards and it finished with a 19-3 loss to the Orioles.
Manny Machado and Chris Parmelee enjoyed two-homer games. Jimmy Paredes, Chris Davis, Ryan Flaherty, and David Lough all went deep, as well.
Boston Red Sox: September 4th, 2013
The Red Sox used eight homers and 19 hits overall to rout the Tigers 20-4 as they prepared for another World Series run. This was Boston’s second game in franchise history with that many homers. The last time it happened was in 1977, though.
David Ortiz slugged two dingers because of course he did. Stephen Drew, Jacoby Ellsbury, Will Middlebrooks, Daniel Nava, Ryan Lavarnway, and Mike Napoli each hit one.
New York Yankees: July 31st, 2007
The Yankees have hit eight homers in a game twice as a franchise. Before doing it in 2007, it last happened on June 28th, 1939. So, you could say it had been a while. The White Sox were the victims at Yankee Stadium, as the Bombers won 16-3.
The damage was spread mostly even between Bobby Abreu, Hideki Matsui (two homers), Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera, Jorge Posada, Johnny Damon, and Shelley Duncan.
Detroit Tigers: June 18th, 2006
Like the last few we’ve discussed, the Tigers have also hit eight homers in a game twice. Ironically enough, they almost came exactly six years apart. The first occurrence happened on June 20th, 2000.
Detroit ended up beating the Cubs at Wrigley Field by a score of 12-3. Chris Shelton and Brandon Inge each supplied respective two-homer games. They were joined by Curtis Granderson, Carlos Guillen, Vance Wilson, and Marcus Thames.
Atlanta Braves: May 28th, 2006
Another powerful display at Wrigley Field. It’s once again against the Cubs, but this time it was by the Braves. On a windy day in the Windy City, Atlanta just barely pulled out a win, evidenced by the 13-12 score.
Edgar Renteria hit two homers, as did Adam LaRoche. They were joined by Ryan Langerhans, Marcus Giles, Andruw Jones, and Brayan Pena.
Texas Rangers: June 30th, 2005
The Rangers are keeping up with the trend we’ve seen in this section. They’ve also slugged eight dingers in a game twice in franchise history. Both instances were just about a month apart. Before the most recent occurrence, they also did it on May 21st, 2005.
Texas pummeled the Angels in Arlington to the tune of an 18-5 score. Kevin Mench enjoyed a three-homer performance, while Mark Teixeira slugged two of his own. The rest of this group was rounded out by David Dellucci, Alfonso Soriano, and Hank Blalock.
Cleveland Guardians: July 16th, 2004
Cleveland traveled to Seattle just to spank the Mariners 18-6. Victor Martinez went deep three times to do most of the heavy lifting. Matt Lawton, Casey Blake, Ben Broussard, Travis Hafner, and Jody Gerut all homered, as well.
Oakland Athletics: June 27th, 1996
The Angels were trounced in front of their home fans, as the A’s unleashed eight homers in an 18-2 blowout victory. Scott Brosius connected twice for homers, while Mark McGwire, Geronimo Berroa, Jason Giambi, Terry Steinbach, Ernie Young, and Jose Herrera also went deep.
San Francisco Giants: April 30th, 1961
The Giants were victorious over the Braves at County Stadium, winning 14-4. The franchise-record eight dingers were really powered by one man: Willie Mays. He slugged four homers against Milwaukee pitching.
Jose Pagan added two of his own, while Orlando Cepeda and Felipe Alou each hit one.
Most Home Runs in a Game
7 Home Runs
Seattle Mariners: August 26th, 2023
The last time the Mariners hit seven home runs in a game was in 2002. That was part of a historic four-homer performance from Mike Cameron. The homer production was a little more spread out in this matchup, which Seattle won 15-2.
Teoscar Hernandez enjoyed a two-homer performance. Josh Rojas, Mike Ford, Julio Rodriguez, Cal Raleigh, and Cade Marlowe also added dingers.
Chicago Cubs: August 1st, 2023
The Cubs put together an eight-game winning streak leading up to the trade deadline, which convinced the front office to buy for a postseason push. And once the deadline passed, they responded by putting up 20 runs on the Cincinnati Reds.
This is the first time Chicago has hit seven homers in one game since 1977. So, yeah — it’s been a while. Dansby Swanson (twice), Cody Bellinger, Mike Tauchman, Nico Hoerner, Patrick Wisdom, and Miguel Amaya all went deep.
Houston Astros: May 28th, 2023
In front of a not-so-packed house in Oakland, the Astros teed off against the Athletics, tying their franchise record for most home runs in a game. Yordan Alvarez led the way with a two-homer performance. He was joined by Jake Meyers, Chas McCormick, Jose Altuve, Jose Abreu, and Jeremy Peña.
Pittsburgh Pirates: May 26th, 2023
This was the first time in just about 20 years that the Pirates hit seven homers in a game. It marked the third time in franchise history it’s happened. The last occurrence was on August 20, 2003.
Jack Suwinski led the way with a two-homer performance. He was also joined by Andrew McCutchen, Carlos Santana, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Tucupita Marcano, and Bryan Reynolds. Amazingly enough, Pittsburgh racked up just 11 runs off the strength of these seven dingers.
St. Louis Cardinals: May 18th, 2023
This one is hot off the presses, folks! At least when it comes to the original writing of this post. The Cardinals have slugged seven home runs in a game three times and at three very different periods in franchise history. The first came in 1940 against the Brooklyn Dodgers, and the second was in 1996 against the Cubs before this most recent effort.
As we can see from the above video, this was against the Dodgers again, who St. Louis beat 16-8. Willson Contreras and Nolan Gorman both hit two homers. They were joined by Juan Yepez, Paul DeJong, and Nolan Arenado.
Los Angeles Angels: August 4th, 2022
This is just one of those sad Angels stats that we have to talk about. Despite tying a franchise record with seven home runs, they were all solo shots. So, this allowed the A’s to still beat Los Angeles, 8-7.
Shohei Ohtani slugged two homers, while Kurt Suzuki, Taylor Ward, Jo Adell, Jared Walsh, and Mickey Moniak all went deep once.
San Diego Padres: May 25th, 2019
The above video is from MLB’s YouTube account. San Diego went to The Six and beat up the Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre by a score of 19-4. And, none of the Padres’ seven home runs came from Manny Machado.
Wil Myers and Hunter Renfroe both slugged two dingers. They were joined by Ian Kinsler, Austin Hedges, and Eric Hosmer, who each hit one.
Chicago White Sox: June 25th, 2016
The Blue Jays were once again on the receiving end here, but at least they won this particular game. Toronto beat the White Sox 10-8 on the Southside.
Brett Lawrie was the lone player on either side to enjoy a two-homer performance. Chicago also watched Dioner Navarro, JB Shuck, Tim Anderson, Alex Avila, and Adam Eaton go yard.
Colorado Rockies: May 31st, 2016
Surprise, surprise — the Rockies matched their franchise record for home runs in a game while playing at Coors Field. They beat the Reds 17-4 in this matchup.
Charlie Blackmon and Nolan Arenado each slugged two dingers, while DJ LeMahieu, Carlos Gonzalez, and Gerardo Parra all added one.
Philadelphia Phillies: September 8th, 1998
The Mets set a franchise record for homers in a game against the Phillies, but the Phillies did it to the Mets first. Philly ended up winning this matchup at Veterans Stadium by a score of 16-4.
Rico Brogna, Kevin Sefcik, and Bobby Estalella each enjoyed multi-homer games. Marlon Anderson added one of his own to push Philly’s homer total to seven for the day.
Milwaukee Brewers: April 29th, 1980
I find it hard to believe the Brewers haven’t at least matched this number since moving their home games to Miller Park/American Family Field. But that’s the way it is. Milwaukee beat Cleveland at Cleveland Stadium by a score of 14-1.
Ben Oglivie and Sal Bando each enjoyed multi-homer performances. Paul Molitor, Sixto Lezcano, and Larry Hisle all went deep, as well.
6 Home Runs
Tampa Bay Rays: May 7th, 2009
The Rays have hit six homers in a game three times as a franchise, all of which came between 2002 and 2009. The first two came against the Royals, while the last one — which we’ll discuss — happened against the Yankees.
Tampa Bay won this game at Yankee Stadium, 8-6. Evan Longoria went deep twice. He was joined by Jason Bartlett, Carlos Pena, Ben Zobrist, and Carl Crawford in the home run room.
Miami Marlins: April 11th, 2008
Wait — the Marlins set a home run record without Giancarlo Stanton participating? It’s true. They beat the Astros 10-6 at Minute Maid Park off the strength of homers from Jeremy Hermida (twice), Jorge Cantu, Hanley Ramirez, Mike Jacobs, and Mike Rabelo.
Kansas City Royals: May 21st, 2003
The Royals needed just six homers to put up 14 runs against the Mariners in a 14-5 blowout win in Seattle. Carlos Beltran slugged two homers, and he was joined by Michael Tucker, Joe Randa, Raul Ibanez, and Angel Berroa, who each hit one.
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