On June 21, 2012, the Saint Louis Cardinals pushed across 12 runs in the bottom of the seventh inning as they trounced the Chicago Cubs in St. Louis. The final one-inning totals for the Cardinals – 12 runs on 10 hits (seven doubles, one triple, two singles) and three walks. Interestingly, at least to BBRT, the seventh was the only inning in which the Cardinals (who have struggled offensively lately) scored. The game was a 12-0 Saint Louis win) and the only inning in which the Redbirds notched more than one hit. Now the Cards did tie an MLB record with seven doubles in one inning – but when it came to hits and runs they felt short of the single inning – or even the seventh inning – record. The Cardinals also fell short of the most lopsided shutout win ever – a Providence Grays 28-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on August 21, 1883.
Note: Since 1900, there have been five shutout victories when the winning team scored twenty or more runs – most recently the Indians 22-0 win over the Yankees on August 31, 2004. BBRT is still searching to see if 12-0 is the most lopsided score in which all of a game’s runs were scored in a single half inning.
Now back to the Cards’ seventh inning. Turns out both the AL and NL records for runs scored in an inning took place in the seventh inning of those games – and in both cases, Detroit was the victim.
While with the Red Sox, Johnny Damon become one of only five major leaguers to notch three hits in one inning.
In the NL, the Chicago White Stockings (later to become the Cubs) scored an NL and MLB record 18 runs in the seventh inning of a 26-6 home win over the Detroit Wolverines. In the inning, they tallied another MLB record 18 hits (10 singles, six doubles, one triple and one home run – amazingly, no walks). Further, three Chicago batters (Tommy Burns, Fred Pfeffer, and Ned Williamson) each had three hits in the inning. How significant is that? In baseball history, three hits in an inning has been accomplished only five times (the last by Johnny Damon on June 27, 2003, in the first inning of a 25-8 Boston Red Sox win over the Florida Marlins, when the Sox scored 14 first-inning runs, including a MLB-record 10 runs before the first out.)
Gene Stephens, another three-hit inning performer for the BoSox.
In the AL, the one-inning scoring record was set in the seventh inning (lucky number seven for both leagues) of a June 18, 1953, 23-3 victory for the Boston Red Sox over the Detroit Tigers. In their big inning, the Red Sox logged 14 hits (11 singles, 2 doubles and 1 home run) and six walks. In this game, Boston leftfielder Gene Stephens notched three hits in the inning – his only hits in the game (3 for 6 with a walk.)
Hope you enjoyed this look back at MLB’s biggest innings.
