A look at every four-homer game in MLB history

April 17th, 2020

There are currently 18 players in Major League Baseball history who have hit four home runs in a single game. Here is a breakdown of every time it's happened:

J.D. Martinez, D-backs, Sept. 4, 2017
The D-backs acquired Martinez from the Tigers in mid-July to add pop to their lineup, and the slugger showed off that power in highly impressive fashion against the rival Dodgers. Martinez opened the night's scoring with a two-run home run off Dodgers starter Rich Hill in the fourth inning, then followed with solo homers in the seventh and eighth frames before capping off the night with a two-run blast with one out in the ninth.

Martinez became only the third player on record (since 1913) to hit four home runs off four different pitchers in one game, while also becoming the first midseason acquisition to hit four round-trippers for his new club since Pat Seerey (White Sox from the Indians) on July 18, 1948.

Scooter Gennett, Reds, June 6, 2017
The 27-year-old Gennett had three home runs on the season before blasting a grand slam in the third inning, a two-run homer in the fourth, a solo shot in the sixth and another two-run long ball in the eighth.

Gennett ended the night with 42 career home runs, meaning he hit 9.5 percent of his home runs to date in one game. It was perhaps the most unlikely of any of the occurrences on this list.

Josh Hamilton, Rangers, May 8, 2012
Hamilton was feeling it on a beautiful spring night, going deep for two-run homers in the first, third, seventh and eighth frames. His 18 total bases tied Joe Adcock for the second most in a single game. Hamilton is also the only player on this list to have each of his four home runs of the two-run variety.

Carlos Delgado, Blue Jays, Sept. 25, 2003
Delgado had 37 homers on the year before belting a three-run shot in the first inning, and then solo homers in the fourth, sixth and eighth to cap off his ridiculous game.

Delgado was reportedly under the weather for the game, but it surely didn't show. With the performance, he surpassed the 300-homer plateau and eclipsed the 40-homer mark for the third time in his career.

Shawn Green, Dodgers, May 23, 2002
Green's 19 total bases in the game still rank as the most for a single contest. He crushed a three-run homer in the second, then solo shots in the fourth, fifth and ninth to complete his historic performance.

Green had just five homers on the year before breaking out in a monster way with arguably the most impressive offensive day in baseball history.

Mike Cameron, Mariners, May 2, 2002
Cameron hit two solo home runs in the first inning before clubbing two more solo homers in the third and fifth inning. Four home runs in five innings. That happened, for real.

"I've seen a lot of baseball in my life, but four home runs in the first five innings of a game? No! It couldn't happen to a nicer young man," Lou Pinella said afterward, according to Baseball Almanac.

Bret Boone and Cameron also went back-to-back in the same inning twice, a feat that still has never been matched.

Mark Whiten, Cardinals, Sept. 7, 1993
In the second game of a doubleheader, Whiten went wild, clubbing a grand slam in the first inning. He followed it up with a three-run dingers in the sixth and seventh before hitting a two-run homer in the ninth.

Whiten racked up 12 RBIs in the contest, tying Jim Bottomley (1924) for the most RBIs in a game in MLB history.

Bob Horner, Braves, July 6, 1986
Horner opened the scoring with a solo shot in the second inning and hit another solo homer in the fourth. He then crushed a three-run long ball in the fifth and finished off his remarkable day with another solo homer in the ninth.

The Braves, somehow, still lost the game.

Mike Schmidt, Phillies, April 17, 1976
A classic slugfest in which the Phillies defeated the Cubs, 18-16, featured a historic day from one of the best to play the game. The teams combined for nine homers in the game, including four consecutive long balls by Schmidt.

Schmidt didn't even get the fun started until the fifth inning, when he clubbed a two-run homer before blasting a solo shot in the seventh. He went deep again in the eighth and 10th frames to help the Phils pull out the victory.

Willie Mays, Giants, April 30, 1961
The legendary Mays got going early, crushing a solo home run in the first inning. He then went deep again in the third, sixth and eighth innings in what resulted in an eight-RBI day and 16 total bases.

Mays was reportedly nauseated because of a snack he ingested the night before, but that didn't stop him from history. Mays went on to crush 660 home runs, fifth most in history.

Rocky Colavito, Indians, June 10, 1959
Colavito took the Orioles deep four times in four consecutive at-bats to record 16 total bases. Before he clubbed his fourth long ball, only Lou Gehrig and Bobby Lowe had hit their four homers in consecutive at-bats.

Colavito was a prolific home run hitter in his prime, topping 20 homers 11 times, eclipsing 30 homers seven times and 40 homers on three occasions.

Joe Adcock, Braves, July 31, 1954
Adcock homered off four pitchers that fateful night at Ebbets Field and even added a double. He finished the game with 18 total bases, which at the time was a Major League record.

Adcock had 15 home runs on the season coming into the game and finished the season with 23.

Gil Hodges, Dodgers, Aug. 31, 1950
Hodges homered off the great Warren Spahn in the second inning, took Normie Roy deep in the third before clubbing a two-run homers off Bob Hall in the sixth and Johnny Antonelli in the eighth.

One-eighth of Hodges' homers that season came in one game, as he clubbed 32 home runs for the year.

Pat Seerey, White Sox, July 18, 1948
Seerey became the first American League player to hit four home runs in a game during an extra-inning contest when he pulverized the Philadelphia Athletics' pitching staff at Shibe Park in the first game of a doubleheader.

Seerey had a brief career, lasting in the big leagues for seven seasons. He hit a total of 86 home runs over the course of his playing days.

Chuck Klein, Phillies, July 10, 1936
Klein, who won the Triple Crown three years prior and also hit for the cycle twice in his career, crushed four home runs off the Pirates in a 9-6 win at Forbes Field.

Klein hit 25 home runs that season and finished with 300 home runs throughout his 17-year career.

Lou Gehrig, Yankees, June 3, 1932
Gehrig was the first AL player and the first in the modern era to hit four homers in a single contest during the Yankees' 20-13 win over the Athletics at Shibe Park.

Gehrig hit another rocket in the ninth inning that flew to deep center field but was caught short of the wall. He finished the season with 34 home runs and hit 493 homers during his 17-year career.

Ed Delahanty, Phillies, July 13, 1896
In arguably the craziest way to achieve the feat, Delahanty hit two of his four home runs inside the park, according to Baseball Almanac. He is the only member of the four-homer club to even have one inside-the-park homer as part of his feat.

Delahanty hit just 101 career homers in 16 seasons, maxing out at 19 during the 1893 season.

Bobby Lowe, Beaneaters, May 30, 1894
Lowe was the first player to hit four home runs in the same game, crushing two of them in the third inning against the Reds at Congress Street Grounds in Boston.

Lowe was not a slugger by any means, hitting just 71 homers in 18 seasons throughout his Major League career.