This week's question comes from Chuck Valenches, who writes:
I am the broadcaster for the Pirates' Triple-A club, the Nashville Sounds. We do a promotion where fans are encouraged to write in and "Ask the Sounds"…. One question we received we cannot find an answer for.
Q. Has there ever been a game in which both teams scored at least one run in every inning, and when was the last time it happened?
Thanks for the question, Chuck. My resources only go back to 1978, and I can find only one instance where even one team scored in nine different innings of a regular game. On May 5, 1999, the Rockies scored in each of their times at bat while visiting the Cubs.
The following games also had one team score in every inning they came to bat (although they didn't bat nine times):
Cubs, September 1, 1978 (eight innings)
Red Sox, August 18, 1979 (five innings)
Phillies, September 19, 1997 (six innings)
Royals, September 14, 1998 (eight innings)
Cardinals, October 3, 1999 (four innings)
Rockies, September 24, 2001 (eight innings)
For both teams combined, the record (since 1978) for a nine-inning contest is 14 half-innings of scoring. Two games have had 15 half-innings of scoring, but one was an 11-inning game, and the other was a 19-inning marathon. I've included the box scores for all five games at the end of this article.
The team that scored in the largest fraction of innings over the course of a season was the 1994 Indians, at 36.07%. No other team since 1978 has topped 35%, and only three have exceeded 34%:
Year Team Scored Didn't Pct.
1994 Indians 369 654 36.07
2000 White Sox 498 939 34.66
1996 Indians 494 947 34.28
1998 Yankees 489 941 34.20
Conversely, the team with the smallest fraction of scoring innings was the 1981 Blue Jays, at just 20.17%, and no other team failed to score in at least 21% of its innings. The list (expanded to show a few non-strike year teams) is below:
Year Team Scored Didn't Pct.
1988 Braves 334 1144 22.60
1981 Twins 223 765 22.57
1992 Mets 329 1129 22.57
1978 Athletics 328 1128 22.53
1985 Pirates 330 1139 22.46
1981 Padres 227 786 22.41
1985 Giants 325 1155 21.96
1981 Cubs 205 764 21.16
1981 Blue Jays 195 772 20.17
The box scores with the most scoring by both teams are shown below.
9 inning game - 14 half-innings of scoring. Game of 5/5/99 -- Colorado at Chicago (D) Colorado AB R H RBI Chicago AB R H RBI Sexton C, cf 5 2 2 3 Johnson L, cf 4 0 0 0 Lansing M, 2b 6 0 2 0 Morandini M, 2b 5 1 1 0 Walker L, rf 5 4 3 0 Sosa S, rf 5 1 3 2 Bichette D, lf 5 3 4 2 Grace M, 1b 3 1 0 0 Castilla V, 3b 5 1 0 0 Rodriguez H, lf 4 1 2 0 Abbott K, 1b 4 0 1 1 Hernandez J, ss 4 1 2 2 Helton T, 1b 2 0 1 0 Gaetti G, 3b 3 1 1 1 Perez N, ss 5 3 3 3 Santiago B, c 3 0 1 1 Blanco H, c 4 0 1 0 Mulholland T, p 2 0 0 0 Astacio P, p 3 0 1 0 Barker R, p 0 0 0 0 Veres D, p 0 0 0 0 Martinez S, ph 1 0 0 0 Serafini D, p 0 0 0 0 Myers R, p 0 0 0 0 Woodall B, p 0 0 0 0 Houston T, ph 1 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 44 13 18 9 35 6 10 6 Colorado 111 121 222 -- 13 Chicago 023 000 010 -- 6 Colorado IP H R ER BB SO Astacio P (W) 8.0 10 6 6 3 11 Veres D 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 Chicago IP H R ER BB SO Mulholland T (L)* 5.0 11 7 6 2 1 Barker R 1.0 0 0 0 2 1 Serafini D+ 1.0 4 4 3 1 0 Myers R 1.0 2 0 0 0 0 Woodall B 1.0 1 2 0 1 0 * Pitched to 1 batter in 6th + Pitched to 3 batters in 8th Game winning RBI -- none E -- Gaetti G, Bichette D, Morandini M, Grace M DP -- Colorado 1, Chicago 2 LOB -- Colorado 12, Chicago 6 2B -- Walker L, Morandini M, Rodriguez H, Bichette D, Abbott K, Perez N 3B -- Walker L HR -- Perez N, Sosa S, Sexton C, Gaetti G SB -- Sexton C SH -- Astacio P 2 WP -- Barker R, Woodall B T -- 3:04 A - 30079 9 inning game - 14 half-innings of scoring. Game of 5/28/95 -- Chicago at Detroit (D) Box score generated at Tue Jul 16 22:02:50 2002 Chicago AB R H RBI Detroit AB R H RBI Martin N, rf 3 1 0 0 Curtis C, cf 5 3 3 2 Newson W, ph-rf 1 0 0 0 Whitaker L, 2b 4 3 3 2 Raines T, lf 5 2 2 0 Trammell A, ss 6 1 2 1 Thomas F, 1b 5 2 2 2 Fielder C, 1b 5 2 2 5 Kruk J, dh 4 2 1 1 Fletcher S, pr-1b 0 0 0 0 Ventura R, 3b 4 0 1 1 Gibson K, dh 6 2 4 2 Devereaux M, cf 5 3 1 2 Fryman T, 3b 4 0 1 0 Durham R, 2b 5 1 4 3 Higginson B, lf 2 0 0 0 Karkovice R, c 3 2 2 4 Samuel J, ph 0 0 0 0 Grebeck C, ss 3 1 1 1 Steverson T, lf 0 0 0 0 Guillen O, ph-ss 1 0 0 0 Stubbs F, ph 1 0 0 0 Bautista D, rf 6 0 1 0 Flaherty J, c 5 1 1 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 39 14 14 14 44 12 17 12 Chicago 013 321 130 -- 14 Detroit 431 111 010 -- 12 Chicago IP H R ER BB SO Baldwin J 1.1 7 7 7 2 3 McCaskill K 3.0 5 3 3 2 3 Dibble R 1.1 2 1 1 2 2 Radinsky S (W) 2.0 2 1 1 2 1 Hernandez R (S) 1.1 1 0 0 0 2 Detroit IP H R ER BB SO Wells D* 3.0 7 7 5 1 2 Doherty J 3.2 5 4 4 2 1 Groom B (L) 0.2 1 3 3 2 1 Henneman M 1.2 1 0 0 1 0 * Pitched to 3 batters in 4th Game winning RBI -- none E -- Grebeck C 2, Wells D DP -- Chicago 1 LOB -- Chicago 7, Detroit 15 2B -- Devereaux M, Thomas F, Curtis C, Kruk J, Durham R 2, Flaherty J, Gibson K, Raines T HR -- Curtis C 2, Fielder C 2, Durham R, Karkovice R 2, Grebeck C, Gibson K 2, Thomas F, Whitaker L SB -- Gibson K 2, Higginson B, Durham R, Whitaker L, Fryman T CS -- Fryman T SF -- Karkovice R 2, Ventura R HBP -- by Dibble R (Curtis C), by Hernandez R (Fielder C) T -- 3:46 A - 10813 9 inning game - 14 half-innings of scoring. Game of 6/30/96 -- Los Angeles at Colorado (D) Box score generated at Tue Jul 16 22:03:38 2002 Los Angeles AB R H RBI Colorado AB R H RBI Fonville C, lf 5 2 3 0 Young E, 2b 5 3 2 1 DeShields D, 2b 5 2 2 1 Weiss W, ss 6 2 2 2 Piazza M, c 6 2 2 2 Burks E, lf 4 3 3 3 Karros E, 1b 5 3 2 2 Bichette D, rf 6 2 5 4 Mondesi R, rf 6 3 4 6 Galarraga A, 1b 5 0 0 0 Blowers M, 3b 4 1 2 0 Castilla V, 3b 6 3 3 1 Hollandsworth T, cf 4 2 2 3 Owens J, c 4 1 1 0 Gagne G, ss 4 0 0 0 Reed J, ph 1 0 1 1 Nomo H, p 3 0 1 1 McCracken Q, cf 6 1 2 1 Castro J, ph 1 0 0 0 Thompson M, p 1 0 0 0 Ho Park C, p 0 0 0 0 Bailey R, p 1 0 0 0 Radinsky S, p 0 0 0 0 Holmes D, p 0 0 0 0 Cedeno R, ph 1 0 0 0 Thompson M, ph 1 0 0 0 Osuna A, p 0 0 0 0 Reed S, p 0 0 0 0 Worrell T, p 0 0 0 0 Hubbard T, ph 1 0 0 0 Leskanic C, p 0 0 0 0 Vanderwal J, ph 1 1 1 2 Ruffin B, p 0 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 44 15 18 15 48 16 20 15 Los Angeles 005 141 013 -- 15 Colorado 013 411 222 -- 16 2 outs when winning run was scored. Los Angeles IP H R ER BB SO Nomo H 5.0 9 9 5 4 9 Ho Park C 1.0 2 1 1 1 0 Radinsky S 1.0 3 2 0 0 2 Osuna A 1.0 2 2 0 0 0 Worrell T (L) 0.2 4 2 2 0 0 Colorado IP H R ER BB SO Thompson M 2.2 8 5 5 3 2 Bailey R 2.0 3 4 4 2 3 Holmes D 0.1 1 1 1 1 1 Reed S 2.0 1 1 1 0 2 Leskanic C 1.0 2 1 1 0 2 Ruffin B (W) 1.0 3 3 3 0 2 Game winning RBI -- none E -- Piazza M, DeShields D, Gagne G, Mondesi R, Owens J DP -- Los Angeles 1 LOB -- Los Angeles 9, Colorado 11 2B -- Blowers M, Nomo H, Weiss W, Burks E, Bichette D, McCracken Q 3B -- Mondesi R HR -- Castilla V, Piazza M, Karros E 2, Mondesi R 2, Bichette D, Hollandsworth T, Burks E, Vanderwal J SB -- Fonville C, Burks E, Young E 6, McCracken Q 2, Bichette D, DeShields D SF -- Hollandsworth T WP -- Nomo H, Ruffin B T -- 4:20 A - 48103 9 inning game - 14 half-innings of scoring. Game of 6/12/99 -- San Francisco at Seattle (N) Box score generated at Tue Jul 16 22:04:26 2002 San Francisco AB R H RBI Seattle AB R H RBI Benard M, cf 6 2 4 3 Lee Hunter B, lf 5 1 2 0 Mueller B, 3b 5 2 2 1 Rodriguez A, ss 5 1 2 3 Bonds B, lf 7 1 1 0 Griffey K, cf 5 2 2 0 Kent J, 2b 5 3 5 4 Martinez E, dh 3 1 2 2 Snow J, 1b 2 2 1 1 Huskey B, rf 5 1 1 3 Javier S, dh 6 1 2 2 Segui D, 1b 4 1 1 0 Rios A, rf 5 2 3 3 Bell D, 2b 5 1 2 2 Aurilia R, ss 6 1 2 0 Davis R, 3b 5 1 2 0 Mayne B, c 5 1 2 1 Lampkin T, c 5 2 1 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 47 15 22 15 42 11 15 10 San Francisco 412 400 211 -- 15 Seattle 113 103 110 -- 11 San Francisco IP H R ER BB SO Rueter K (W) 5.1 10 8 8 2 2 Spradlin J 0.1 1 1 0 0 1 Embree A* 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 Rodriguez F 1.1 1 1 1 0 1 Johnstone J 1.0 2 1 1 0 1 Nen R 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 Seattle IP H R ER BB SO Garcia F (L) 2.0 6 5 5 3 2 Suzuki M+ 1.0 2 3 3 2 0 Cloude K 2.0 4 3 3 2 2 Zimmerman J 2.0 5 2 2 1 3 Carmona R 1.1 5 2 1 1 0 Rodriguez F 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 * Pitched to 1 batter in 6th + Pitched to 1 batter in 4th Game winning RBI -- none E -- Lampkin T, Bonds B, Carmona R LOB -- San Francisco 15, Seattle 7 2B -- Benard M, Griffey K, Bell D, Rodriguez A, Kent J 2, Rios A, Snow J, Lee Hunter B HR -- Kent J, Benard M, Huskey B, Bell D SB -- Javier S, Rios A, Kent J SF -- Mayne B HBP -- by Rodriguez F (Martinez E) WP -- Cloude K 3 PB -- Lampkin T T -- 3:57 A - 35625 19 inning game, 15 half-innings of scoring Game of 7/4/85 -- New York at Atlanta (N) Box score generated at Tue Jul 16 22:01:26 2002 New York AB R H RBI Atlanta AB R H RBI Dykstra L, cf 9 1 3 2 Washington C, rf 8 3 3 0 Backman W, 2b 10 2 4 2 Ramirez R, ss 9 2 3 2 Hernandez K, 1b 10 3 4 3 Murphy D, cf 8 1 1 3 Carter G, c 9 1 5 2 Horner B, 1b 4 1 1 0 Strawberry D, rf 7 0 3 1 Perry G, 1b 4 0 0 0 Christensen J, rf 0 0 0 0 Harper T, lf 10 3 5 4 Foster G, lf 2 0 0 0 Oberkfell K, 3b 6 1 3 2 Orosco J, p 0 0 0 0 Camp R, p 2 1 1 1 Sisk D, p 1 0 0 0 Cerone R, c 4 1 1 1 Chapman K, ph 1 0 0 0 Hall A, pr 0 0 0 0 Gorman T, p 2 0 0 0 Benedict B, c 2 0 0 0 Staub R, ph 0 1 0 0 Hubbard G, 2b 3 0 0 0 Darling R, p 0 0 0 0 Shields S, p 0 0 0 0 Knight R, 3b 10 2 3 1 Komminsk B, ph 1 0 0 0 Santana R, ss 4 1 1 0 Sutter B, p 0 0 0 0 Johnson H, ph-ss 5 4 3 2 Chambliss C, ph 1 0 0 0 Gooden D, p 1 0 0 0 Forster T, p 1 0 0 0 McDowell R, p 0 0 0 0 Garber G, p 1 0 0 0 Hurdle C, ph 1 0 0 0 Runge P, ph-3b 2 0 0 0 Leach T, p 2 0 0 0 Mahler R, p 1 0 0 0 Heep D, lf 6 1 2 2 Dedmon J, p 1 0 0 0 Zuvella P, 2b 7 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 80 16 28 15 75 13 18 13 New York 100 401 011 000 200 001 5 -- 16 Atlanta 102 010 040 000 200 001 2 -- 13 New York IP H R ER BB SO Gooden D 2.1 2 2 2 4 3 McDowell R 0.2 2 1 1 0 1 Leach T 4.0 4 1 1 0 3 Orosco J 0.2 1 4 4 3 1 Sisk D 4.1 3 0 0 1 0 Gorman T (W) 6.0 5 3 3 2 2 Darling R 1.0 1 2 0 2 1 Atlanta IP H R ER BB SO Mahler R 3.1 6 3 3 4 2 Dedmon J 2.0 5 3 3 0 1 Shields S 2.2 4 1 1 1 1 Sutter B 1.0 3 1 1 0 1 Forster T 4.0 3 2 2 1 3 Garber G 3.0 1 0 0 2 2 Camp R (L) 3.0 6 6 5 2 2 Game winning RBI -- Knight R E -- Ramirez R, Johnson H, Camp R, Washington C, Hernandez K DP -- New York 1, Atlanta 3 LOB -- New York 20, Atlanta 17 2B -- Hernandez K, Oberkfell K, Murphy D, Harper T, Knight R 3B -- Washington C, Hernandez K HR -- Hernandez K, Johnson H, Harper T, Camp R SB -- Backman W, Strawberry D CS -- Washington C SH -- Backman W, Christensen J SF -- Dykstra L PB -- Carter G T -- 6:10 A - 0 11 inning game, 15 half-innings of scoring Game of 9/28/95 -- Houston at Chicago (D) Box score generated at Tue Jul 16 22:02:04 2002 Houston AB R H RBI Chicago AB R H RBI Cangelosi J, lf 7 0 0 0 McRae B, cf 6 1 2 1 Biggio C, 2b 6 5 4 0 Johnson H, 3b 6 2 2 1 Bagwell J, 1b 4 1 2 0 Grace M, 1b 5 1 3 2 May D, rf 4 1 2 2 Sosa S, rf 3 1 0 1 Eusebio T, ph-c 1 0 0 0 Gonzalez L, lf 5 1 1 2 Magadan D, 3b 4 1 2 2 Young A, p 0 0 0 0 Mouton J, ph-rf 1 1 1 3 Dunston S, ss 5 2 3 0 Lee Hunter B, cf 6 1 3 1 Servais S, c 2 2 2 3 Wilkins R, c 3 0 1 1 Myers R, p 0 0 0 0 Gutierrez R, ph 1 0 0 0 Adams T, p 0 0 0 0 Swindell G, p 0 0 0 0 Zeile T, ph 0 0 0 0 Veres D, p 0 0 0 0 Walker M, p 0 0 0 0 Brumley M, ph 1 1 1 1 Bullett S, lf 1 1 1 1 Jones T, p 0 0 0 0 Hernandez J, 2b 5 0 2 0 Shipley C, ss-3b 5 0 1 1 Bullinger J, p 2 0 1 0 Wall D, p 1 0 0 0 Perez M, p 0 0 0 0 Kile D, p 0 0 0 0 Casian L, p 0 0 0 0 Simms M, ph 1 0 0 0 Franco M, ph 1 0 0 0 A. Martinez P, p 0 0 0 0 Wendell T, p 0 0 0 0 Dougherty J, p 0 0 0 0 Parent M, c 3 1 2 1 Hartgraves D, p 0 0 0 0 Thompson M, ph 1 0 0 0 Tabaka J, p 0 0 0 0 McMurtry C, p 0 0 0 0 Stankiewicz A, ss 1 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 47 11 17 11 44 12 19 12 Houston 101 031 120 11 -- 11 Chicago 023 001 120 12 -- 12 1 out when winning run was scored. Houston IP H R ER BB SO Wall D 2.1 6 5 5 1 1 Kile D 1.2 0 0 0 1 3 A. Martinez P 1.0 0 0 0 1 0 Dougherty J 0.2 2 1 1 0 0 Hartgraves D 0.1 1 0 0 0 0 Tabaka J 0.1 1 1 1 1 0 McMurtry C 0.2 0 0 0 1 1 Swindell G 0.1 3 2 2 0 0 Veres D 2.2 3 1 1 0 3 Jones T (L) 0.1 3 2 2 0 0 Chicago IP H R ER BB SO Bullinger J 5.0 10 5 5 2 1 Perez M 0.1 0 1 1 2 0 Casian L 0.2 0 0 0 0 1 Wendell T 1.1 3 2 2 0 2 Myers R 0.1 2 1 1 0 0 Adams T 1.1 0 0 0 0 2 Walker M 1.1 2 2 2 2 1 Young A (W) 0.2 0 0 0 0 1 Game winning RBI -- none LOB -- Houston 12, Chicago 11 2B -- Bagwell J, Bullinger J, Magadan D, Wilkins R, Parent M, Grace M, Biggio C 3B -- Johnson H HR -- Servais S, Gonzalez L, Mouton J, Brumley M SB -- Lee Hunter B 4, Sosa S, Biggio C 2, Stankiewicz A CS -- Servais S SH -- Kile D, Zeile T, Eusebio T, Hernandez J SF -- Grace M, Servais S, Mouton J, Sosa S WP -- Casian L, McMurtry C PB -- Parent M 2, Eusebio T T -- 4:51 A - 14075
Keith Woolner is an author of Baseball Prospectus. You can contact him by clicking here.
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