Times have changed and so has baseball. Today this beautiful sport is not the same as it was yesterday. In its early days, a pitcher could open 40 or more games in a season and complete almost all of them.
There have been some variations in the game, teams need to protect the huge investments they make in players, modern medicine also dictates a guideline, and strategy has changed especially when it comes to pitching and hitting. Unlike in the past, players now have limits, and restricted performances, which have made some baseball records unbreakable.
That's the great thing about baseball, so many things can happen in a single game that tends to be incredibly rare, that they become records that will be hard to break.
In this 2022 MLB season, we have been able to observe how the number of home runs hit in a game has increased considerably. This would be directly related to the large number of pitches that are over 100 miles per hour, that is, now pitchers use their fastball much more often and, little by little, have left aside the other types of pitches.
Now, last Saturday, July 02, 2022, the St. Louis Cardinals managed to make MLB history by hitting 4 consecutive home runs in the very first inning of their game against the Philadelphia Phillies. With this, the Cardinals became the eleventh team in major league history to achieve this complicated record.
All the home runs were hit in the first inning and, most impressively, were after two outs on the board. The first came off the bat of Nolan Arenado, followed by Nolan Gorman, the third home run came from Venezuelan Juan Yépez, and the last one from Dylan Carlson.
Arenado hit to left field and was the first of the four that punished Kyle Gibson's pitches, this was the 16th home run of the Cuban-born player, this home run traveled 354 feet.
Gorman did the same on a two-ball, one-strike count, but through the right field to put the scoreboard at 3-0. Juan Yépez joined the party and swinging at a low pitch and using all his strength, allowed the ball to disappear into left field.
To close out the scoring Carlson sent it flying 407 feet down the right-field line at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia and it was the fifth of the season for the 23-year-old rookie.
The home fans were stunned at Citizens Bank Park when Lars Nootbar stepped into the batting cage after Carlson, but he hit a fly ball that was caught in the bottom of left field to end the fateful first inning for the Phillies.
Despite these 4 consecutive home runs, the Cardinals struggled throughout the game and, thanks to Nolan Arenado's second home run of the night in the ninth inning, they were able to pull out the victory with a score of 7-6.
Teams That Have Hit Four Consecutive Home Runs in MLB History
Milwaukee Braves – June 8, 1961 (vs Cinncinati) – 7th Inning
Eddie Mathews, Hank Aaron, Joe Adcock, and Frank Thomas.
Cleveland Indians – July 31, 1963 (vs Angels) – 6th Inning
Woodie Held, Pedro Ramos, Tito Francona, and Larry Brown.
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Minnesota Twins – May 02, 1964 (vs Athletics) – 11th Inning
Tony Oliva, Bob Allison, Jimmie Hall, and Harmon Killebrew.
Los Angeles Dodgers – September 18, 2006 (vs Padres) – 9th Inning
Jeff Kent, J.D. Drew, Russell Martin, and Marlon Anderson.
Boston Red Sox – April 22, 2007 (vs Yankees) – 3rd Inning
Manny Ramirez, J.D. Drew, Mike Lowell, and Jason Varitek.
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Chicago White Sox – August 14, 2008 (vs Royals) – 6th Inning
Jim Thome, Paul Konerko, Alexei Ramirez, and Juan Uribe.
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Arizona D-backs – August 11, 2010 (vs Brewers) – 4th Inning
Adam Laroche, Miguel Montero, Mark Reynolds, and Stephen Drew.
Washington Nationals –July 27, 2017 (vs Brewers) – 4th Inning
Brian Goodwin, Wilmer Difo, Bryce Harper, and Ryan Zimmerman.
Washington Nationals – June 09, 2019 (vs Padres) – 8th Inning
Howie Kendrick, Trea Turner, Adam Eaton, and Anthony Rendon.
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Chicago White Sox – August 16, 2020 (vs Cardinals) – 5th Inning
Yoán Moncada, Yasmani Grandal, José Abreu, and Eloy Jiménez.
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St. Louis Cardinals – July 02, 2022 (vs Phillies) – 1st Inning
Nolan Arenado, Nolan Gorman, Juan Yépez, and Dylan Carlson.
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