thumb|right|upright|Bobby Lowe was the first MLB player to hit four home runs in a single game, doing so in 1894.|alt=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.

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 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.

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. 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

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

|-

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|Player

|Name

|-

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|Date

|Date of the game

|-

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|Team

|The player's team at the time

|-

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|Opposing team

|The team against whom the player hit four home runs

|-

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|Score

|Final score of the game, with the player's team's score listed first

|-

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|RBI

|The number of runs batted in the player had in the game

|-

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|TB

|The number of total bases the player had in the game

|-

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|Career HR

|The number of home runs the player hit in his MLB career

|-

!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|<sup>º</sup>

|The home runs were in consecutive plate appearances

|-

!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color: #ffffbb"|

|Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame

|-

!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color: lightgreen|<sup>^</sup>

|MLB record

|-

!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color:#CFECEC;"|*

|The player is still active.

|-

!scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color: #ffbbbb"|

|The player's team lost the game.

|}

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+Players who have hit four home runs in a single regular-season game

!scope="col"|#

!scope="col"|Player

!scope="col"|Date

!scope="col"|Team

!scope="col" class="unsortable"|

!scope="col"|Opposing team

!scope="col"|Score

!scope="col"|RBI

!scope="col"|TB

!scope="col"|Career HR

!scope="col" class="unsortable"|Ref(s)

|-

!scope="row"|1

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" |<sup>º</sup>

|||Boston Beaneaters|| ||Cincinnati Reds||20–11||9||17||||

|-

!scope="row"|2

! scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color: #ffffbb" |

|||Philadelphia Phillies||@||Chicago Colts||bgcolor="#ffbbbb"|||7||17||101||

|-

!scope="row"|3

! scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color: #ffffbb" |<sup>º</sup>

|||New York Yankees||@||Philadelphia Athletics||20–13||6||16||493||

|-

!scope="row"|4

! scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color: #ffffbb" |

|||Philadelphia Phillies||@||Pittsburgh Pirates||||6||16||300||

|-

!scope="row"|5

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" |

|||Chicago White Sox||@||Philadelphia Athletics||12–11||7||16||||

|-

!scope="row"|6

! scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color: #ffffbb" |

|||Brooklyn Dodgers|| ||Boston Braves||19–3||9||17||370||

|-

!scope="row"|7

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" |

|||Milwaukee Braves||@||Brooklyn Dodgers||15–7||7||18||336||

|-

!scope="row"|8

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" |<sup>º</sup>

|||Cleveland Indians||@||Baltimore Orioles||11–8||6||16||374||

|-

!scope="row"|9

! scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color: #ffffbb" |

|||San Francisco Giants||@||Milwaukee Braves||14–4||8||16||660||

|-

!scope="row"|10

! scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color: #ffffbb" |<sup>º</sup>

|||Philadelphia Phillies||@||Chicago Cubs||18–16||8||17||548||

|-

!scope="row"|11

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" |

|||Atlanta Braves|| ||Montreal Expos||bgcolor="#ffbbbb"|||6||16||218||

|-

!scope="row"|12

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" |

|||St. Louis Cardinals||@||Cincinnati Reds||15–2||bgcolor=lightgreen|12^||16||105||

|-

!scope="row"|13

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" |<sup>º</sup>

|||Seattle Mariners||@||Chicago White Sox||15–4||4||16||278||

|-

!scope="row"|14

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" |

|||Los Angeles Dodgers||@||Milwaukee Brewers||16–3||7||bgcolor=lightgreen|19<sup>^</sup>||328||

|-

!scope="row"|15

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" |<sup>º</sup>

|||Toronto Blue Jays|| ||Tampa Bay Devil Rays||10–8||6||16||473||

|-

!scope="row"|16

! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" |

|||Texas Rangers||@||Baltimore Orioles||10-3||8||18||200||

|-

!scope="row"|17

! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" |<sup>º</sup>

|||Cincinnati Reds|| ||St. Louis Cardinals||13–1||10||17||||

|-

!scope="row"|18

! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" |<sup>º</sup>

|||Arizona Diamondbacks||@||Los Angeles Dodgers||13–0||6||16||331||

|-

!scope="row"|19

! scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color:#CFECEC;" |<sup>º*</sup>

|||Arizona Diamondbacks|| ||Atlanta Braves|| bgcolor="#ffbbbb"|||5||16||325||

|-

!scope="row"|20

! scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color:#CFECEC;" |<sup>*</sup>

|||Athletics||@||Houston Astros||||8||bgcolor=lightgreen|19<sup>^</sup>||36||

|-

!scope="row"|21

! scope="row" style="text-align:center; background-color:#CFECEC;" |<sup>*</sup>

|August 28, 2025||Philadelphia Phillies|| ||Atlanta Braves||||9||16||340||

|}

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

  • MON@ATL: Bob Horner hits his fourth home run of game from MLB via YouTube
  • STL@CIN: Whiten blasts four dingers, drives in 12 from MLB via YouTube
  • SEA@CWS: Cameron hits four homers in the game from MLB via YouTube
  • Green has monster day at the plate from MLB via YouTube
  • TB@TOR: Delgado blasts four homers in the game from MLB via YouTube
  • TEX@BAL: Hamilton goes 5-for-5 with four homers from MLB via YouTube
  • Gennett and Martinez both hit 4 homers in a game from MLB via YouTube