10 players with the most home runs in a game ft. Mike Cameron, Shawn Green, JD Martinez and more
A home run is arguably the most exciting play in the game of baseball, no matter whether it's a shot that goes over the fence or it's of the 'inside the park' variety. A multiple home run game is a special occasion for any player, and hitting three in one game is an extremely rare accomplishment.
In the long history of major league baseball, four home runs is the most any player has scored in a single game. Only a handful of players have achieved this feat. We take a look at the last 10 players to register four homers in a game.
Ten players with the most home runs in a game
#1 Willie Mays - April 30, 1961
One of the all-time greats, Willie Mays probably had the best outing of his glittering career when the San Francisco Giants beat the Milwaukee Brewers 14-4 in April 1961.
The 24-time All-Star smashed four home runs in the game, and each of those shots reportedly traveled over 400 feet. Mays later said that he was not sure if he would have even played that game, as he was suffering from food poisoning.
#2 Mike Schmidt - April 17, 1976
Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt was the reigning home run champion for the past two years before he started the 1976 season by hitting 12 in the opening 15 games.
It included a four-home run game in April when the Philadelphia Phillies edged the Chicago Cubs 18-16 in an unusually high-scoring game. Schmidt ended with 548 home runs in his career, and he was a three-time MVP in the National League.
#3 Bob Horner - July 6, 1986
Bob Horner was the NL Rookie of the Year for 1978 and had an 11-year career in the MLB, which was almost entirely spent with the Atlanta Braves.
He etched his name in baseball history after hitting four home runs against the Montreal Expos in July 1986, although his team lost 11-8. Horner once held the record for most home runs without a grand slam before he was supassed by Sammy Sosa.
#4 Mark Whiten - September 7, 1993
Mark Whiten had a journeyman career, spending 11 years in the big leagues with eight different teams.
Whiten was playing for the St. Louis Cardinals when he hit four home runs during a 15-2 victory in the second encounter of a double-header against the Cincinnati Reds in Sept. 1993. Overall, he drove in 13 runs on the day, tying the record for most RBIs in a doubleheader.
#5 Mike Cameron - May 2, 2002
Mike Cameron played for eight teams in a 17-year major league career during which he had established himself as a consistent power-hitter.
Cameron was part of the Seattle Mariners when he smashed four home runs in a 15-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox. In his final at-bat of the game, he hit a flyball out to the warning track and barely missed out on a record-breaking fifth home run.
#6 Shawn Green - May 23, 2002
Shawn Green was one of the best players of his generation, with more than 2000 hits and 300 home runs in his 15-year career.
In May 2002, he hit four home runs for the Los Angeles Dodgers in their 16-3 tharshing of the Milwaukee Braves. Green got another home run in his next outing before adding a couple more in the next one to set an MLB record with seven homers over three games.
#7 Carlos Delgado - September 25, 2003
Carlos Delgado was one of the most feared power-hitters of his time and posted 13 straight seasons with more than 20 home runs.
Delgado played most of his career for the Toronto Blue Jays and produced four home runs when they beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 10-8 in September 2003. He remains the only MLB player to hit four home runs in a game from as many at-bats.
#8 Josh Hamilton - May 8, 2012
Josh Hamilton was playing for the Texas Rangers when they beat the Baltimore Orioles 10-3 at Camden Yards in May 2012.
Hamilton had the best game of his career, going 5-5 on the night with four two-run home runs to finish with eight RBIs. He racked up 18 total bases during the game, which set an American League record and missed out on tying the overall MLB record by just one.
#9 Scooter Gennett - June 6, 2017
Scooter Gennett hit four home runs for the Cincinnati Reds when they beat the St. Louis Cardinals 13-1 in June 2017, which also included a grand slam.
He was the first Reds player to achieve the feat and also set a club record with 17 total bases in the game. Gennett became only the seventh player in history to hit home runs in four consecutive at-bats in the same game.
#10 J.D. Martinez - September 4, 2017
In July 2017, J.D. Martinez was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Less than two months later, he hit four home runs in a 13-0 blowout of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Martinez got his first in the fourth inning before adding to his tally in the seventh, eighth and ninth to become the first player in the modern era to hit a home run in the final three innings of an MLB game.