All Runs Scored On Solo Homers

In the first game of yesterday’s doubleheader against the Mets, the Braves won 4-2, with all 4 runs coming on solo home runs. (It was not an efficient use of their homers

, but it got the job done.) What is the record for most runs scored only on solo homers?

The Braves’ 4 runs, all on solo homers, is not the record, though it is in a tie for 18th-most all-time. In fact, it is not even the Braves’ record. The record was set in this game

, coincidentally also the first game of an April doubleheader, a 5-3 win against the Rockies in 1998. The Braves’ 5 homers all came by the 3rd inning (they were hit by Keith Lockhart, Chipper Jones, Andres Galarraga, Javy Lopez, and Michael Tucker). Of course, that game was played at Coors Field, so perhaps it should have an asterisk.

Two teams have managed to score 6 runs, all on solo homers. Incredibly, both of them lost, and by the same score of 8-6. One was last year’s homer-happy Blue Jays (not surprising), and the other was the 1991 Bash Brothers A’s (also not surprising).

The A’s pulled off their feat against the Twins; they got 3 homers from Dave Henderson, plus 1 each from Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco, and Harold Baines. They led 5-0 but were undone by a 7-run 8th inning from the Twins.

In their game,

vs. the Diamondbacks, the Jays got also had a 3-homer performance (from Edwin Encarnacion). They also got dingers from Adam Lind, Jose Bautista, and Fred Lewis, but their starter (Brandon Morrow) got lit up early and they never caught up to the D’backs.

Here is the list of all the teams to have scored at least 5 runs, all of them on solo homers:

As you can see, quite a few of these teams lost their games despite all the homers. The overall record of these teams is below .500, in fact: 8-9. Several of those teams would have won if they had had a few baserunners on for the homers.

The Braves, by the way, have hit 15 home runs, 13 of them solo. That is now the worst ratio of solo homers to total homers in the league.