List of Major League Baseball single-game home run leaders

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File:Bobby Lowe LOC milwaukee.jpg
Bobby Lowe was the first MLB player to hit four home runs in a single game, doing so in 1894.

In baseball, a home run occurs when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process. In modern baseball, the feat is typically achieved by hitting the ball over the outfield fence between the foul poles (or making contact with either foul pole) without first touching the ground, resulting in an automatic home run. There is also the "inside-the-park" home run where the batter reaches home safely while the baseball is in play on the field.

Nineteen players have hit four home runs in a single Major League Baseball (MLB) game, which writers of Sporting News described as "baseball's greatest single-game accomplishment".<ref name="tsn">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The most recent to accomplish the feat to date is Eugenio Suárez with the Arizona Diamondbacks against the Atlanta Braves on April 26, 2025. No player has done this more than once in his career. In the pre-professional era, Lipman Pike also hit five home runs in 1866.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> No player has ever hit four home runs in a postseason game; that record is three, first accomplished by Babe Ruth in Template:Nowrap of the 1926 World Series.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Bobby Lowe was the first to hit four home runs in a single game, doing so on May 30, 1894, for the Boston Beaneaters.<ref name=BL>Template:Cite news</ref> Fans were reportedly so excited that they threw $160 in silver coins ($Template:Inflation today) onto the field after his fourth home run.<ref name="tsn"/><ref name="Suehsdorf">Template:Cite book</ref> Of all players to achieve the feat, Lowe hit the fewest career home runs, with a total of 71. Two years after Lowe's feat, Ed Delahanty of the Philadelphia Phillies became the second player to hit four home runs in a game. Two other Phillies players have achieved the feat, Chuck Klein in 1932 and Mike Schmidt in 1976.<ref name=JDM /> Three other current franchises, the Atlanta Braves (with three), the Los Angeles Dodgers (with two), and the Arizona Diamondbacks (with two) have had multiple four-homer games in their history; the former two share the distinction of having one four-homer game in each city they have called home (for the Braves, Boston, Milwaukee, and Atlanta; for the Dodgers, Brooklyn and Los Angeles). The Braves also hold the record for most four-homer games surrendered by a single franchise with three, while the Baltimore Orioles, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, and Athletics have each surrendered two such games over their histories. Thirteen of the 30 franchises (as of 2021) have achieved at least one four-homer game, and 12 franchises have surrendered at least one. Eleven have never been involved in a four-homer game at all, although only three of these (Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, Minnesota Twins) date back to before the 1960s expansion era.

Despite Delahanty's achievement on July 13, 1896, the Phillies lost to the Chicago Colts, one of only three occasions when a player hit four home runs but was on the losing team.<ref name=JDM/> One took place in 1986, when Bob Horner had four home runs for the Atlanta Braves, but the Montreal Expos emerged victorious,<ref name=JDM/> and the other occurred in 2025, when Eugenio Suárez hit four home runs for the Arizona Diamondbacks, but the Braves emerged victorious.<ref name=ES/> Following Delahanty's four-home run game in 1896, no other player would accomplish the feat for nearly 36 years, the longest gap between such occurrences.<ref name=JDM/> The shortest interval took place in 2002,<ref name=JDM/> when Mike Cameron hit his four on May 2, 2002,<ref name=MC/> and Shawn Green repeated the feat 21 days later, on May 23.<ref name=SG /> This was the first time two players had achieved a four-homer game in the same season; this would occur again in 2017 when Scooter Gennett and J. D. Martinez achieved the feat in June and September respectively.<ref name=scoot/><ref name=JDM/> Cameron was also the first and only player to hit four solo home runs in one game, accounting for the minimum of four RBIs when accomplishing the feat. When Martinez struck his four home runs for the Arizona Diamondbacks against the Los Angeles Dodgers, he became the first player with a four-homer game to hit more homers than his opponents gained base hits.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

These games have resulted in other MLB single-game records due to the extreme offensive performance. Mark Whiten tied Jim Bottomley for the most runs batted in in a single game with 12 in his four-homer game.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Shawn Green hit a double and a single along with his four home runs for 19 total bases, an MLB record. It surpassed Joe Adcock's mark of 18, which also came from a four-homer game.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Carlos Delgado and Eugenio Suárez are the only players to make four plate appearances in a game and hit a home run each time.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Warren Spahn pitched the ball which Gil Hodges hit for the first of his four, the only Hall of Fame pitcher faced during a four-home-run game.<ref name="tsn"/> Of the 14 players eligible for the Hall of Fame who have hit four home runs in a game, six have been elected. Players are eligible for the Hall of Fame if they have played in at least 10 major league seasons and have either been retired for five seasons or deceased for at least six months.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> These requirements leave three players ineligible who are living and have played in the past five seasons and one (Seerey) who did not play 10 seasons in MLB.

PlayersEdit

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Player Name
Date Date of the game
Team The player's team at the time
Opposing team The team against whom the player hit four home runs
Score Final score of the game, with the player's team's score listed first
RBI The number of runs batted in the player had in the game
TB The number of total bases the player had in the game
Career HR The number of home runs the player hit in his MLB career
º The home runs were in consecutive plate appearances
Template:Dagger Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
^ MLB record
* The player is still active.
Template:Double-dagger The player's team lost the game.
Players who have hit four home runs in a single regular-season game
Player Date Team Opposing team Score RBI TB Career HR Ref(s)
Template:Sortnameº Template:Dts Boston Beaneaters Cincinnati Reds 20–11 9 17 Template:Sort citation CitationClass=web

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Template:SortnameTemplate:Dagger Template:Dts Philadelphia Phillies Chicago Colts Template:SortTemplate:Double-dagger 7 17 101 citation CitationClass=web

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Template:SortnameºTemplate:Dagger Template:Dts New York Yankees Philadelphia Athletics 20–13 6 16 493 citation CitationClass=web

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Template:SortnameTemplate:Dagger Template:Dts Philadelphia Phillies Pittsburgh Pirates Template:Sort 6 16 300 citation CitationClass=web

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Template:Sortname Template:Dts Chicago White Sox Philadelphia Athletics 12–11 7 16 Template:Sort citation CitationClass=web

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Template:SortnameTemplate:Dagger Template:Dts Brooklyn Dodgers Boston Braves 19–3 9 17 370 citation CitationClass=web

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Template:Sortname Template:Dts Milwaukee Braves Brooklyn Dodgers 15–7 7 18 336 citation CitationClass=web

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Template:Sortnameº Template:Dts Cleveland Indians Baltimore Orioles 11–8 6 16 374 citation CitationClass=web

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Template:SortnameTemplate:Dagger Template:Dts San Francisco Giants Milwaukee Braves 14–4 8 16 660 citation CitationClass=web

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Template:SortnameºTemplate:Dagger Template:Dts Philadelphia Phillies Chicago Cubs 18–16 8 17 548 citation CitationClass=web

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Template:Sortname Template:Dts Atlanta Braves Montreal Expos Template:SortTemplate:Double-dagger 6 16 218 citation CitationClass=web

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Template:Sortname Template:Dts St. Louis Cardinals Cincinnati Reds 15–2 12^ 16 105 citation CitationClass=web

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Template:Sortnameº Template:Dts Seattle Mariners Chicago White Sox 15–4 4 16 278 citation CitationClass=web

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Template:Sortname Template:Dts Los Angeles Dodgers Milwaukee Brewers 16–3 7 19^ 328 citation CitationClass=web

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Template:Sortnameº Template:Dts Toronto Blue Jays Tampa Bay Devil Rays 10–8 6 16 473 citation CitationClass=web

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Template:Sortname Template:Dts Texas Rangers Baltimore Orioles 10-3 8 18 200 citation CitationClass=web

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Template:Sortnameº Template:Dts Cincinnati Reds St. Louis Cardinals 13–1 10 17 Template:Sort citation CitationClass=web

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Template:Sortnameº* Template:Dts Arizona Diamondbacks Los Angeles Dodgers 13–0 6 16 331 <ref name=JDM>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation CitationClass=web

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Template:Sortnameº* Template:Dts Arizona Diamondbacks Atlanta Braves Template:SortTemplate:Double-dagger 5 16 286 citation CitationClass=web

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Source:<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Unofficial four-home run gamesEdit

Only one player has ever hit four home runs in a spring training game: Henry Rodriguez of the Los Angeles Dodgers against the New York Mets on April 24, 1995.<ref name=BN>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

Template:Baseball records Template:4 HR game

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