It’s time again for Baseball Roundtable’s Trivia(l) Tidbit Tuesday. I hope you are enjoying this weekly presentation of baseball occurrences that for some reason caught The Roundtable’s eye. (I’m particularly fond of unexpected performances and statistical coincidences.) These won’t necessarily be momentous occurrences, just events, statistics or coincidences that grabbed my attention. I’m also drawn to baseball “unicorns,” one-of-a-kind MLB accomplishments or statistics.
Photo: Flickr user thatlostdog–, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Last Friday (June 12), Astros’ DH and number-two hitter Yordan Alvarez hit his 23rd and 24th home runs of the season. Not totally remarkable, he is a good hitter in the midst of an outstanding season. As I post this, Alvarez is MLB’s 2026 leader in slugging percentage (.651), total bases (170) and home runs (tie at 24) and the Al leader in average (.326), hits (85) and RBI (54). What was noteworthy, from the Tidbit point of view, is that he hit both homers in the first inning of an Astros’ 10-8 win over the Royals (in Kansas City). In his first at bat of the frame, he hit a two-run homer on a 3-2 pitch from Royals’ starter Luinder Avila. Alvarez came to the plate later in the inning with the bases loaded (Mason Black on the mound). The Houston DH tattooed a 1-0 pitch off Black to deep center for a Grand Slam. One inning, two homers, six RBI. Not a bad start – and it turned out the Astros needed all those runs.
As always, “One thing led to another,” and I got to thinking about two-homer innings – and whether they are any baseball unicorns to be found among them. First of all, a player launching two homers in an inning is not a unicorn-worthy feat. It’s happened 65 times since 1900 (70 if you go back to 1880 and include the Players League and American Association of the time). Side note: 32 of those two-homer innings have occurred since the year 2000.
So, what about that unicorn? It appears in the form of Red Sox’ 2B Bill Regan, who rapped two home runs in the fourth inning of a Red Sox 10-5 win over the White Sox (in Chicago). The first one was the easy one. He led off the inning with a home run over the LF wall (off Ted Blankenship (The Red Sox were down 3-0 at the time). By the time Regan came to the plate again in the inning, the Sox were up 6-3, Sarge Connally was on the bump for Chicago, there were two out and a runner on first – and Regan smacked a line drive to deep center field. Only this time, he had to run. He dashed his way to an inside-the park two-run homer to give the Red Sox an 8-3 lead.
That performance made Regan the only MLB player in the Modern Era (post-1900) to hit an inside-the-park and over-the-fence homer in the same inning. In addition, Regan’s 18 career home runs are the fewest ever by a player with a two-homer inning on his resume. Regan played six MLB seasons (1926-31 … Red Sox, Pirates), going .267-18-294 in 641 games. Disclaimer: Negro Leagues’ single-game statistics from 1920-48 have not been fully incorporated into MLB record books.
Well, as usual, one thing led to another. So here are a few more two-homer innings tidbits.
Going Where No Man Has Gone Before … Or Since
Seventeen players have launched a Grand Slam as part of a two-homer inning, but on April 23, 1999, Cardinals’ 3B Fernando Tatis not only hit two homers in an inning – he hit two Grand Slams in one inning (giving him unicorn status that he still retains). It was the 11-run third inning of the Cardinals’ 12-5 win over the Dodgers in LA. Equally surprising to BBRT is the fact that Dodgers’ starter Chan Ho Park was on the mound for both Grand Slams (the second finally drove Park from the game). This gives both Tatis and Park (the only pitcher to give up two Grand Slams to the same hitter in an inning) unicorn status. Park’s inning went like this: single – hit batsman – single – Tatis’ Grand Slam – ground out, first base-to-pitcher – home run (by C Eli Marrero) – walk – walk – fielder’s choice – error by first baseman – single – fly out to right field – Tatis’ second Grand Slam – relieved by Carlos Perez, who got the final out of the inning on a foul pop up.
Teaming Up for a Two-Homer Inning
On May 2, 2002, Brett Boone and Mike Cameron became the first (and still only) two teammates to hit two home runs in one inning in the same game – and they did it in the same inning (a ten-run first in a 15-4 win over the White Sox) and they did it back-to-back (out of the number-two and number-three holes in the batting order). Now, that is a double unicorn.
2 X 2 = A Record
To date, only five players have achieved two home runs an inning twice in their careers:
- Jeff King, Pirates (April 8, 1995 and April, 30, 1996);
- Willie McCovey, Giants (April 12, 1973 and June 27, 1977);
- Andre Dawson, Expos (June 30, 1978 and Sept. 24, 1985);
- Alex Rodriguez, Yankees (September 5, 2007 and October 4, 2009).
- Edwin Encarnacion, Blue Jays and Mariners (July 26, 2013 and April 8, 2019, respectively).
From Both Side Now
The Indians’ Carlos Baerga (August 8, 1993), the Cubs’ Mark Bellhorn (August 29, 2002) and the Angels’ Kendrys Morales (July 30, 2012) are the only players to homer from both sides of the plate in the same inning.
Two in One Frame … Why Not Double Up with Two More?
The Braves’ Bobby Lowe (May 30, 1894) and Mariners’ Mike Cameron (May 2, 2002) each achieved a two-homer inning in the midst of a record four-homer game.
Bothersome Brothers
Brett Boone (May 2, 2002) and Aaron Boone are the only two brothers to both go deep twice in one MLB inning. Brett has the career edge in MLB home runs – 252 to Aarons’s 126.
A Winning ‘Ticket
No team that had a player record a two-homer game has ended up on the wrong side of the final score in that contest. The closest call came on July 22, 2006, when Tampa Bay SS (and leadoff hitter) Julio Lugo hit a pair of two-run homers in the fifth inning versus the Ori0les. Tampa ended the inning with a 10-3 lead over Baltimore. The Devil Rays extended the lead to 13-3 in the sixth, but the Orioles scored nine in the seventh. Tampa ultimately escaped with a 13-12 victory.
Lucky 13
The sixth inning has seen the most two-homer inning (by one player) performances, with 13. The ninth inning has seen the fewest, with one. On May 2, 2025, the Tigers broke up a 1-1 tie with eight runs in the top of the ninth – versus the Angels). Detroit DH Riley Greene broke the tie, opening the inning with a solo home run off Kenley Jansen. Greene came up later in the inning (against Jake Eder) and added a three-run dinger. No player has ever hit two-home runs in an extra inning.
Primary Resources: Stathead.com; Baseball-Almanac.com
Baseball Roundtable – Blogging Baseball Since 2012.
Baseball Roundtable is on the Feedspot list of the Top 100 Baseball Blogs. For the full list click here.
I tweet (on X) baseball @DavidBaseballRT. Follow me there for post notifications and links.
Follow Baseball Roundtable’s Facebook Page here.
Member: Society for American Baseball Research (SABR); Negro Leagues Baseball Museum; The Baseball Reliquary.
P 1172
Speak Your Mind