The Diamondbacks’ back-to-back-to-back home runs to open Monday night’s game against the Phillies at Citizens Bank park was certainly a harbinger of things to come. The two clubs combined to hit 13 home runs, a new major league record. The previous record of 12 homers was held by the Tigers and White Sox (May 28, 1995) and by the White Sox and Tigers (July 2, 2002).
Along with the three consecutive home runs from Jarrod Dyson, Ketel Marte, and David Peralta, the D-Backs also benefited from two-run homers in the fourth inning by Eduardo Escobar and Alex Avila. Escobar hit another two-run shot in the fifth, and Ildemaro Vargas hit a solo dinger. Vargas went yard with Escobar on base in the ninth for good measure.
On the Phillies’ side, Jean Segura lifted a solo home rin the first. Scott Kingery went yard with the bases empty in the fourth and added another solo shot in the eighth. Rhys Hoskins and Jay Bruce each hit solo homers in the ninth. The Phillies ultimately lost 13-8.
Major League Baseball set a new record in 2017 when teams combined for 6,105 homers, obliterating the previous record of 5,693 hit in 2000. Entering Monday’s action, the league was averaging 1.34 home runs per game, by far the highest rate in baseball history. 2017, the current record, saw 1.26 home runs per game. Over the 185,295 plate appearances 2017 saw, the current pace entering Monday would yield 6,504 homers.
The Diamondbacks-Phillies game wasn’t the only high-offense game on Monday. The Pirates and Braves combined for seven homers. The Cubs and Rockies have combined for six homers, including a 483-foot blast by Ian Desmond -- the longest homer of the 2019 season to date.
