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List of Major League Baseball single-game home run leaders

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List of Major League Baseball single-game home run leaders

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A black and white baseball card featuring a man in a white baseball jersey and striped cap holding both hands out cupped in front of his chest.
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.

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 $160 in silver coins ($ 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 5.6% 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.

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.

Players

PlayerDateTeamOpposing teamScoreRBITBCareer HRº^*
Name
Date of the game
The player's team at the time
The team against whom the player hit four home runs
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 total bases the player had in the game
The number of home runs the player hit in his MLB career
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.
PlayerDateTeamOpposing teamScoreRBITBCareer HRRef(s)ºººººººº*º***
Boston BeaneatersCincinnati Reds20–11917
Philadelphia PhilliesChicago Colts717101
New York YankeesPhiladelphia Athletics20–13616493
Philadelphia PhilliesPittsburgh Pirates616300
Chicago White SoxPhiladelphia Athletics12–11716
Brooklyn DodgersBoston Braves19–3917370
Milwaukee BravesBrooklyn Dodgers15–7718336
Cleveland IndiansBaltimore Orioles11–8616374
San Francisco GiantsMilwaukee Braves14–4816660
Philadelphia PhilliesChicago Cubs18–16817548
Atlanta BravesMontreal Expos616218
St. Louis CardinalsCincinnati Reds15–212^16105
Seattle MarinersChicago White Sox15–4416278
Los Angeles DodgersMilwaukee Brewers16–3719^328url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20020523&content_id=333393title=A day for the ages for Greenlast=Gurnickfirst=Kendate=May 23, 2002work=MLB.compublisher=Major League Baseballaccess-date=September 9, 2010archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105084657/http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20020523&content_id=333393archive-date=November 5, 2012url-status=live}}
Toronto Blue JaysTampa Bay Devil Rays10–8616473
Texas RangersBaltimore Orioles10-3818200
Cincinnati RedsSt. Louis Cardinals13–11017url=https://apnews.com/8bb9af29b58740f1acc5e4464fdd0a21/Scooter-Gennett-hits-4-home-runs-for-Reds-to-tie-MLB-recordtitle=Scooter Gennett hits 4 home runs for Reds to tie MLB recordlast=Kayfirst=Joedate=June 7, 2017work=Associated Pressaccess-date=June 7, 2017archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170623002306/https://apnews.com/8bb9af29b58740f1acc5e4464fdd0a21/Scooter-Gennett-hits-4-home-runs-for-Reds-to-tie-MLB-recordarchive-date=June 23, 2017url-status=live}}
Arizona DiamondbacksLos Angeles Dodgers13–0616331title=J.D. Martinez mashes his way to a four-homer gameurl=https://www.espn.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/133915/j-d-martinez-mashes-his-way-to-a-four-homer-gamepublisher=ESPNdate=September 4, 2017access-date=September 5, 2017archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905081505/http://www.espn.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/133915/j-d-martinez-mashes-his-way-to-a-four-homer-gamearchive-date=September 5, 2017url-status=live}}
Arizona DiamondbacksAtlanta Braves516301url=https://www.mlb.com/news/eugenio-suarez-four-homer-gametitle=Suárez is 19th player in MLB history with a 4-homer gamedate=April 26, 2025website=MLB.com}}
AthleticsHouston Astros819^23
August 28, 2025Philadelphia PhilliesAtlanta Braves916333

Source:

Unofficial four-home run games

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.

References

References

  1. Jim, Hoppel. (August 10, 1999). "Four homers in one game". [[Sporting News]].
  2. admin. "July 16, 1866: Lipman Pike's home run record – Society for American Baseball Research".
  3. (October 20, 2017). "MLB's three-home run playoff games: From Babe to Reggie, Kennedy to Enrique Hernandez".
  4. (December 10, 1951). "Bobby Lowe Dead at 83". [[Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph]].
  5. Suehsdorf, A. D.. (1978). "The Great American Baseball Scrapbook". Random House.
  6. Perry, Dayn. (September 4, 2017). "Diamondbacks' J.D. Martinez hits four home runs against Dodgers". [[CBS Sports]].
  7. Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). (2007). "The SABR Baseball List and Record Book: Baseball's Most Fascinating Records and Unusual Statistics". Scribner.
  8. Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). (2007). "The SABR Baseball List and Record Book: Baseball's Most Fascinating Records and Unusual Statistics". Scribner.
  9. (May 23, 2019). "May 23, 2002: Shawn Green's epic four-homer, six-hit day against the Brewers". [[Sporting News]].
  10. (September 25, 2003). "Delgado ties record with four homers". [[ESPN]].
  11. "Rules for Election". [[National Baseball Hall of Fame]].
  12. "Bobby Lowe Statistics and History". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
  13. "Bobby Lowe Career Home Runs".
  14. "Ed Delahanty Statistics and History". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
  15. "Ed Delahanty Career Home Runs".
  16. "Lou Gehrig Statistics and History". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
  17. "Chuck Klein Statistics and History". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
  18. "Pat Seerey Statistics and History". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
  19. "Gil Hodges Statistics and History". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
  20. "Joe Adcock Statistics and History". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
  21. (May 4, 1999). "Joe Adcock Dead at 71; Broke Up Longest No-Hitter". [[Los Angeles Times]].
  22. "Rocky Colavito Statistics and History". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
  23. Wilks, Ed. (June 10, 1959). "Tribe's Rocky Colavito Ties Record in Majors' Toughest Home Run Park". [[Evening Independent]].
  24. "Willie Mays Statistics and History". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
  25. Reichler, Joe. (May 1, 1961). "Giants' Slugging Sets or Ties a Flock of Records". [[The Hour (newspaper).
  26. "Mike Schmidt Statistics and History". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
  27. (April 17, 1976). "Mike Schmidt Hits Four Home Runs: Phillies Outslug Chicago,18–16". [[United Press International]].
  28. "Bob Horner Statistics and History". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
  29. (July 7, 1986). "National League; Horner Ties Mark with 4 Home Runs". [[New York Times]].
  30. "Mark Whiten Statistics and History". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
  31. Allen, Karen. (September 8, 1993). "Cards' Whiten: 4 HRs, 12 RBI". [[USA Today]].
  32. "Mike Cameron Statistics and History". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
  33. Ralph, John. (May 2, 2002). "With 4 homers, Cameron crows". [[Major League Baseball]].
  34. Gurnick, Ken. (May 23, 2002). "A day for the ages for Green". [[Major League Baseball]].
  35. "Shawn Green Statistics and History". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
  36. "Carlos Delgado Statistics and History". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
  37. Fordin, Spencer. (September 25, 2003). "Delgado smashes four homers". [[Major League Baseball]].
  38. "Josh Hamilton Statistics and History". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
  39. "Hamilton makes history with four home runs". [[Major League Baseball]].
  40. Kay, Joe. (June 7, 2017). "Scooter Gennett hits 4 home runs for Reds to tie MLB record". [[Associated Press]].
  41. "Scooter Gennett Statistics and History". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
  42. (September 4, 2017). "J.D. Martinez mashes his way to a four-homer game". [[ESPN]].
  43. "J.D. Martinez Statistics and History". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
  44. (April 26, 2025). "Suárez is 19th player in MLB history with a 4-homer game".
  45. "Eugenio Suárez Statistics and History". [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
  46. Spolane, Adam. (2025-07-26). "Nick Kurtz of Athletics becomes 1st MLB rookie to hit 4 homers in a game, matches total base record".
  47. "FOUR for Schwarbs! Phils slugger joins exclusive HR club -- and had chance for No. 5!".
  48. Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). (2007). "The SABR Baseball List and Record Book: Baseball's Most Fascinating Records and Unusual Statistics". Scribner.
  49. (October 31, 2019). "Four or more home runs in a single game". Society for American Baseball Research (SABR).
  50. "Four home runs in a game – Rare Feats". [[Major League Baseball]].
  51. Nightengale, Bob. (April 24, 1995). "Rodriguez: 4 At-Bats, 4 Homers : Dodgers: Right fielder gets final one with count 3-0 and finishes spring training batting .405.". [[Los Angeles Times]].
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