A Brief History of 20 Run Games in the Expansion Era

The Phillies pounded the Marlins 20-1 Saturday night. The Phillies are now 2-0 at home under Gabe Kapler, outscoring the Marlins 25-1. In front of the Phillies fans, Kapler is making a good impression.

Some notes on teams scoring at least 20 runs in a game during the expansion era:

1. Since the start of the 1961 season, teams scored 20 runs in a game 105 times. On average, that’s a bit under twice a year.
2. The first team to do so in this era was the Kansas City Athletics, who beat the Twins 20-2 on April 25, 1961. The A’s did not hit a home run. Future manager Dick Howser hit two doubles and scored two runs, and future GM Haywood Sullivan went four for four with a double and two triples.
3. There was a gap of almost five years between the Yankees scoring 21 runs on 8/19/1962 and the Cubs scoring 20 runs on 5/20/1967.
4. The Phillies beat the Cubs 23-22 in ten innings on 5/17/1979. Oakland and Seattle would both post 20-run games on 9/30/2000, but not against each other.
5. The Phillies scored 26 runs on 6/11/1985, the first team in the era to crack the 25 run barrier. They beat the Mets by 19 runs. Von Hayes hit two home runs and drove in six runs.
6. The Rangers scored the most runs in a game, 30 runs on 8/22/2007. They would score nine runs in the second game to sweep a double header.
7. The Marlins were the previous team to score 20 runs in a game, beating the Rangers 22-10 on 7/26/2017.
8. The 1999 season saw the most 200-run games, nine in total. The 1996 season was second with seven.
9. There have been eight season with at least four 20-run games, and six of those took place in the offensive explosion known as the steroid era.
10. The Yankees scored 20+ runs eleven times, the most in the era.

from baseballmusings.com https://ift.tt/2EuJIHE