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List of Major League Baseball single-game home run leaders

Updated: Wikipedia source

List of Major League Baseball single-game home run leaders

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. Twenty-one 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". The most recent to accomplish the feat to date is Kyle Schwarber with the Philadelphia Phillies against the Atlanta Braves on August 28, 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. No player has ever hit four home runs in a postseason game; that record is three, first accomplished by Babe Ruth in Game 4 of the 1926 World Series. Bobby Lowe was the first to hit four home runs in a single game, doing so on May 30, 1894, for the Boston Beaneaters. Fans were reportedly so excited that they threw $160 in silver coins ($6,000 today) onto the field after his fourth home run. Of all players to achieve the feat, Lowe hit the fewest career home runs, with a total of 71, making his four homers 5 % of his career total. Two years after Lowe's feat, Ed Delahanty of the Philadelphia Phillies became the second player to hit four home runs in a game. Three other Phillies players have achieved the feat, Chuck Klein in 1936, Mike Schmidt in 1976, and Kyle Schwarber in 2025. 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 four, while the Baltimore Orioles, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, and Athletics have each surrendered two such games over their histories. Fourteen of the 30 franchises (as of 2025) have achieved at least one four-homer game, and thirteen franchises have surrendered at least one. Ten 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. One took place in 1986, when Bob Horner had four home runs for the Atlanta Braves but the Montreal Expos emerged victorious, and the other occurred in 2025, when Eugenio Suárez hit four home runs for the Arizona Diamondbacks but the Braves won the game. 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. The shortest interval took place in 2002, when Mike Cameron hit his four on May 2, 2002, and Shawn Green repeated the feat 21 days later, on May 23. 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. 2025 was the first season to see three four-home run games: by Suárez, Nick Kurtz, and Schwarber. Cameron was also the first, and to date 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, and to date only, player with a four-homer game to hit more homers than his opponents gained base hits. 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. Shawn Green in 2002 and Nick Kurtz in 2025 each hit a double and a single along with their four home runs for 19 total bases, an MLB record. The previous record was Joe Adcock's mark of 18, which also came from a four-homer game. Carlos Delgado and Eugenio Suárez are the only players to make four plate appearances in a game and hit a home run each time. 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. As of 2025, of the 21 players who have hit four home runs in a game, 14 players have been eligible for the Hall of Fame, and 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. These requirements exclude three players actively playing for a major league team, one player ineligible who is living and has played in the past five seasons (Martinez), and three (Seerey, Hamilton, and Gennett) who did not play 10 seasons in MLB.

Tables

· Players
Date of the game
Date of the game
Player
Date
Name
Date of the game
The player's team at the time
The player's team at the time
Player
Team
Name
The player's team at the time
The team against whom the player hit four home runs
The team against whom the player hit four home runs
Player
Opposing team
Name
The team against whom the player hit four home runs
Final score of the game, with the player's team's score listed first
Final score of the game, with the player's team's score listed first
Player
Score
Name
Final score of the game, with the player's team's score listed first
The number of runs batted in the player had in the game
The number of runs batted in the player had in the game
Player
RBI
Name
The number of runs batted in the player had in the game
The number of total bases the player had in the game
The number of total bases the player had in the game
Player
TB
Name
The number of total bases the player had in the game
The number of home runs the player hit in his MLB career
The number of home runs the player hit in his MLB career
Player
Career HR
Name
The number of home runs the player hit in his MLB career
The home runs were in consecutive plate appearances
The home runs were in consecutive plate appearances
Player
º
Name
The home runs were in consecutive plate appearances
Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
Player
Name
Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
MLB record
MLB record
Player
^
Name
MLB record
The player is still active.
The player is still active.
Name
The player is still active.
The player's team lost the game.
The player's team lost the game.
Player
Name
The player's team lost the game.
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
Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
^
MLB record
The player is still active.
The player's team lost the game.
Players who have hit four home runs in a single regular-season game · Players
1
1
#
1
Player
Bobby Loweº
Date
May 30, 1894
Team
Boston Beaneaters
Opposing team
Cincinnati Reds
Score
20–11
RBI
9
TB
17
Career HR
71
2
2
#
2
Player
Ed Delahanty†
Date
July 13, 1896
Team
Philadelphia Phillies
Col 5
@
Opposing team
Chicago Colts
Score
8–9‡
RBI
7
TB
17
Career HR
101
3
3
#
3
Player
Lou Gehrigº†
Date
June 3, 1932
Team
New York Yankees
Col 5
@
Opposing team
Philadelphia Athletics
Score
20–13
RBI
6
TB
16
Career HR
493
4
4
#
4
Player
Chuck Klein†
Date
July 10, 1936
Team
Philadelphia Phillies
Col 5
@
Opposing team
Pittsburgh Pirates
Score
9–6
RBI
6
TB
16
Career HR
300
5
5
#
5
Player
Pat Seerey
Date
July 18, 1948
Team
Chicago White Sox
Col 5
@
Opposing team
Philadelphia Athletics
Score
12–11
RBI
7
TB
16
Career HR
86
6
6
#
6
Player
Gil Hodges†
Date
August 31, 1950
Team
Brooklyn Dodgers
Opposing team
Boston Braves
Score
19–3
RBI
9
TB
17
Career HR
370
7
7
#
7
Player
Joe Adcock
Date
July 31, 1954
Team
Milwaukee Braves
Col 5
@
Opposing team
Brooklyn Dodgers
Score
15–7
RBI
7
TB
18
Career HR
336
8
8
#
8
Player
Rocky Colavitoº
Date
June 10, 1959
Team
Cleveland Indians
Col 5
@
Opposing team
Baltimore Orioles
Score
11–8
RBI
6
TB
16
Career HR
374
9
9
#
9
Player
Willie Mays†
Date
April 30, 1961
Team
San Francisco Giants
Col 5
@
Opposing team
Milwaukee Braves
Score
14–4
RBI
8
TB
16
Career HR
660
10
10
#
10
Player
Mike Schmidtº†
Date
April 17, 1976
Team
Philadelphia Phillies
Col 5
@
Opposing team
Chicago Cubs
Score
18–16
RBI
8
TB
17
Career HR
548
11
11
#
11
Player
Bob Horner
Date
July 6, 1986
Team
Atlanta Braves
Opposing team
Montreal Expos
Score
8–11‡
RBI
6
TB
16
Career HR
218
12
12
#
12
Player
Mark Whiten
Date
September 7, 1993
Team
St. Louis Cardinals
Col 5
@
Opposing team
Cincinnati Reds
Score
15–2
RBI
12^
TB
16
Career HR
105
13
13
#
13
Player
Mike Cameronº
Date
May 2, 2002
Team
Seattle Mariners
Col 5
@
Opposing team
Chicago White Sox
Score
15–4
RBI
4
TB
16
Career HR
278
14
14
#
14
Player
Shawn Green
Date
May 23, 2002
Team
Los Angeles Dodgers
Col 5
@
Opposing team
Milwaukee Brewers
Score
16–3
RBI
7
TB
19^
Career HR
328
15
15
#
15
Player
Carlos Delgadoº
Date
September 25, 2003
Team
Toronto Blue Jays
Opposing team
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Score
10–8
RBI
6
TB
16
Career HR
473
16
16
#
16
Player
Josh Hamilton
Date
May 8, 2012
Team
Texas Rangers
Col 5
@
Opposing team
Baltimore Orioles
Score
10-3
RBI
8
TB
18
Career HR
200
17
17
#
17
Player
Scooter Gennettº
Date
June 6, 2017
Team
Cincinnati Reds
Opposing team
St. Louis Cardinals
Score
13–1
RBI
10
TB
17
Career HR
87
18
18
#
18
Player
J. D. Martinezº
Date
September 4, 2017
Team
Arizona Diamondbacks
Col 5
@
Opposing team
Los Angeles Dodgers
Score
13–0
RBI
6
TB
16
Career HR
331
19
19
#
19
Player
Eugenio Suárezº*
Date
April 26, 2025
Team
Arizona Diamondbacks
Opposing team
Atlanta Braves
Score
7–8‡
RBI
5
TB
16
Career HR
325
20
20
#
20
Player
Nick Kurtz*
Date
July 25, 2025
Team
Athletics
Col 5
@
Opposing team
Houston Astros
Score
15–3
RBI
8
TB
19^
Career HR
36
21
21
#
21
Player
Kyle Schwarber*
Date
August 28, 2025
Team
Philadelphia Phillies
Opposing team
Atlanta Braves
Score
19–4
RBI
9
TB
16
Career HR
340
#
Player
Date
Team
Opposing team
Score
RBI
TB
Career HR
Ref(s)
1
Bobby Loweº
May 30, 1894
Boston Beaneaters
Cincinnati Reds
20–11
9
17
71
2
Ed Delahanty†
July 13, 1896
Philadelphia Phillies
@
Chicago Colts
8–9‡
7
17
101
3
Lou Gehrigº†
June 3, 1932
New York Yankees
@
Philadelphia Athletics
20–13
6
16
493
4
Chuck Klein†
July 10, 1936
Philadelphia Phillies
@
Pittsburgh Pirates
9–6
6
16
300
5
Pat Seerey
July 18, 1948
Chicago White Sox
@
Philadelphia Athletics
12–11
7
16
86
6
Gil Hodges†
August 31, 1950
Brooklyn Dodgers
Boston Braves
19–3
9
17
370
7
Joe Adcock
July 31, 1954
Milwaukee Braves
@
Brooklyn Dodgers
15–7
7
18
336
8
Rocky Colavitoº
June 10, 1959
Cleveland Indians
@
Baltimore Orioles
11–8
6
16
374
9
Willie Mays†
April 30, 1961
San Francisco Giants
@
Milwaukee Braves
14–4
8
16
660
10
Mike Schmidtº†
April 17, 1976
Philadelphia Phillies
@
Chicago Cubs
18–16
8
17
548
11
Bob Horner
July 6, 1986
Atlanta Braves
Montreal Expos
8–11‡
6
16
218
12
Mark Whiten
September 7, 1993
St. Louis Cardinals
@
Cincinnati Reds
15–2
12^
16
105
13
Mike Cameronº
May 2, 2002
Seattle Mariners
@
Chicago White Sox
15–4
4
16
278
14
Shawn Green
May 23, 2002
Los Angeles Dodgers
@
Milwaukee Brewers
16–3
7
19^
328
15
Carlos Delgadoº
September 25, 2003
Toronto Blue Jays
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
10–8
6
16
473
16
Josh Hamilton
May 8, 2012
Texas Rangers
@
Baltimore Orioles
10-3
8
18
200
17
Scooter Gennettº
June 6, 2017
Cincinnati Reds
St. Louis Cardinals
13–1
10
17
87
18
J. D. Martinezº
September 4, 2017
Arizona Diamondbacks
@
Los Angeles Dodgers
13–0
6
16
331
19
Eugenio Suárezº*
April 26, 2025
Arizona Diamondbacks
Atlanta Braves
7–8‡
5
16
325
20
Nick Kurtz*
July 25, 2025
Athletics
@
Houston Astros
15–3
8
19^
36
21
Kyle Schwarber*
August 28, 2025
Philadelphia Phillies
Atlanta Braves
19–4
9
16
340

References

  1. Sporting News
    https://web.archive.org/web/20040408051728/http://www.sportingnews.com/archives/sports2000/moments/173391.html
  2. "July 16, 1866: Lipman Pike's home run record – Society for American Baseball Research"
    https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/july-16-1866-lipman-pikes-home-run-record/
  3. USA Today
    https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2017/10/20/mlb-three-home-runs-playoff-game-enrique-hernandez/783026001/
  4. Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph
    https://www.newspapers.com/clip/48840877/bobby-lowe-dead-at-83/
  5. The Great American Baseball Scrapbook
  6. "J . Martinez mashes his way to a four-homer game"
    https://www.espn.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/133915/j-d-martinez-mashes-his-way-to-a-four-homer-game
  7. MLB
    https://www.mlb.com/news/eugenio-suarez-four-homer-game
  8. MLB
    http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20020502&content_id=17561
  9. MLB
    http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20020523&content_id=333393
  10. Associated Press
    https://apnews.com/8bb9af29b58740f1acc5e4464fdd0a21/Scooter-Gennett-hits-4-home-runs-for-Reds-to-tie-MLB-record
  11. CBS Sports
    https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/diamondbacks-j-d-martinez-hits-four-home-runs-against-dodgers/
  12. The SABR Baseball List and Record Book: Baseball's Most Fascinating Records and Unusual Statistics
  13. The SABR Baseball List and Record Book: Baseball's Most Fascinating Records and Unusual Statistics
  14. Sporting News
    https://www.sportingnews.com/ca/mlb/news/shawn-green-four-home-run-game-dodgers-brewers-total-bases-record-video-may-23-2002/1em192yx3gx0t1f0d56w4wd0yf2
  15. "Delgado ties record with four homers"
    https://web.archive.org/web/20140203001915/http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=230925114&teams=tampa-bay-devil-rays-vs-toronto-blue-jays
  16. "Rules for Election"
    http://baseballhall.org/hall-famers/rules-election/bbwaa
  17. Baseball-Reference
    https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/lowebo01.shtml
  18. Baseball-Reference
    https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/event_hr.fcgi?id=lowebo01&t=b
  19. Baseball-Reference
    https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/delahed01.shtml
  20. Baseball-Reference
    https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/event_hr.fcgi?id=delahed01&t=b
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