Lighting It Up

A high scoring affair on the south side last night as the White Sox battled their crosstown rivals led me to think: what was the highest scoring game I’ve ever attended?  Some quick calculations have produced these top 9 scoring games that I have seen in person, starting with last night’s tilt.

30 runs

8/27/2021

After putting up 6 runs in the top half of the first, the Cubs, for the second time this season, coughed up the lead.  Yasmani Grandal, in his first game action since a knee injury on July 5th, hit two home runs and drove in 8 runs as the White Sox won 17-13.  The 17 runs are the 4th largest output I’ve seen in person, while the 13 runs put up by the Cubs was the largest I’ve seen in a losing effort.

26 runs

7/2/2006

Another high scoring crosstown tilt, as Michael Barrett and Carlos Zambrano both homered off of Mark Buehrle in a 7 run first inning.  Despite home runs from Juan Uribe, Jim Thome, Joe Crede, and Tadahito Iguchi, the Cubs held on to win 15-11 while avoiding a three game sweep.

9/2/2017

Powered by backup catcher Rene Rivera’s first career grand slam, the Cubs built an 11-4 lead heading to the 7th inning against the Braves.  The Cubs bullpen then managed to give up 8 runs over the final three innings, which would have given the Braves the victory, but they also managed to tack on 3 insurance runs, giving the Cubs a 14-12 win.

24 runs

4/30/2008

Two three-run homers from Geovany Soto led the Cubs to a 19-5 victory over the Brewers, their highest single game output since 2001.

23 runs

7/31/2021

Despite the first 3 home runs of Seby Zavala’s career and a 6-1 lead heading into the 5th inning, the White Sox dropped this slugfest to the Indians 12-11.

5/22/1998

In my first visit to the Ballpark in Arlington, despite home runs from Jose Offerman, Shane Mack, Jeff Conine, and Jermaine Dye, the Royals were outslugged by the Rangers 13-10.

4/3/2006

Opening Day 2006 at the Great American Ballpark started with a first pitch from President George W Bush and was quickly followed by a Matt Murton homer in a 5-run first inning.  The Cubs tacked on 7 more runs in the 6th inning en route to a 16-7 victory over the Reds, their highest Opening Day output in franchise history.

22 runs

8/2/1993

The last time to date that I sat in the bleachers at Wrigley Field, a pre-game joust from the folks at Medieval Times was a portent of what was to come.  Following two home runs by Carlos Garcia, he was hit by a pitch leading off the 6th inning.  When the Pirates threw behind Mark Grace while leading off the bottom half of the inning, a huge brawl broke out.  After order was restored, Steve Buechele and Sammy Sosa homered to propel the Cubs to a 12-10 victory.

6/28/2002

Similar to last night’s game, the Cubs led 8-0 after the 3rd inning, but two home runs from Paul Konerko, after getting hit in the head in the 4th inning by Kerry Wood, powered the Sox comeback as the took the game 13-9.

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