12 MLB teams combine for stunning feat, break 129-year drought

The league nearly matched the July 4, 1894 record of 13 teams with 10 or more runs, but the San Diego Padres left a runner at second base in the ninth inning of their 9-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Three of Tuesday’s 15 games finished with identical 11-10 finals, marking the first time in history that that’s happened, per the Elias Sports Bureau. The Kansas City Royals, New York Mets and San Francisco Giants eked out victories over the Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds respectively by those scores.

Making this week’s offensive explosion perhaps more impressive than the 1894 occurrence is that while there were 15 contests on Tuesday, there were 24 games on the historic day 129 years ago. According to an Associated Press and ESPN report, there were three major leagues (the National League, the American Association and the Union Association) that year.

Tuesday was also the first time since July 8, 1898, that four games had both teams scoring in double-digits. The Arizona Diamondbacks and Atlanta Braves had the highest-scoring game, with the visiting D-backs pulling out a 16-13 win.

The Chicago Cubs scored the most runs on Tuesday, defeating the Washington Nationals, 17-3.

The Cleveland Guardians defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-1, meaning that all five teams in the AL Central put up double-digit runs. According to the Associated Press and ESPN report, it was just the second time in the divisional era (since 1969) that each team in a division has scored at least 10 runs on the same day. The only other instance of that happening came on September 15, 2000, when the AL West accomplished the feat.

While this week’s offensive eruption may have led to some slightly longer games, commissioner Rob Manfred will likely take the trade-off if it meant all of the action-packed contests from Tuesday night.