Home Run History Was Made in Monday's Game Between the Rockies and the Marlins
The game of baseball consistently provides us with funky stats, which is bound to happen with every team playing 162 games each season. With that many games, there is plenty of opportunity for things to get weird, and Monday's contest between the Colorado Rockies and Miami Marlins proved just that.
The Rockies won the game 5-3. Nothing strange about that score, right? Well, check out how each run was plated.
All the scoring in today’s @Rockies-@Marlins game?
EIGHT solo homers. https://t.co/2Z03dgsMAMhttps://t.co/ZlCSmowlkW
— MLB (@MLB) June 21, 2016
I won't blame you if you lost count, but you just watched eight home runs being hit. With eight total runs scored in the game, you guessed it: they all came via a solo home run. This broke the previous record for most home runs in a game in Marlins Park of seven but also set an even stranger record.
All 8 runs in Rockies-Marlins game came via solo HR. It's the most solo HR in a game in MLB history in which they accounted for all the runs
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 21, 2016
"Set the record" was probably a poor choice of words. The eight solo home runs accounting for every run shattered the previous mark of "just" five. The guys who helped make history were Marcell Ozuna -- who hit two taters -- and Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins, and Mark Reynolds -- who also had two long balls -- Trevor Story, Charlie Blackmon, and Nick Hundley for the Rockies.
Just for fun, here's their home run and Isolated Power (ISO) totals for the season and where they rank in the National League.
| Player | Season HR (NL Rank) | ISO (NL Rank) |
|---|---|---|
| Marcell Ozuna | 15 (9) | 0.245 (12) |
| Giancarlo Stanton | 13 (18) | 0.221 (22) |
| Trevor Story | 18 (3) | 0.286 (4) |
| Charlie Blackmon | 8 (43) | 0.183 (39) |
| Mark Reynolds | 6 (54) | 0.157 (53) |
| Nick Hundley | 3 (73) | 0.215 (27) |
For reference, the current league average ISO for the National League is .155, which is lower than the ISO of every player to hit a home run in Monday's game.
In case you didn't recognize the stadium from the home run barrage clip earlier, Monday's contest was played in Marlins Park, which has been notorious for keeping balls in the yard. However, the new dimensions in Miami were already creating more home runs after just 11 home games into the season.
Although Marlins Park has dropped from 7th in home run park factor from that point to 17th now, the stadium is on pace to allow 138 home runs for the season (it should be noted this pace jumped significantly after Monday's game). This would be 25 more than have ever been hit in the history of the park.
Thanks for continuing to stay strange, baseball.
