D-backs, Phillies set MLB record with 13 homers

When the first three D-backs batters went deep in Philadelphia on Monday night, it was a sign of things to come.

Arizona and Philadelphia combined to hit 13 home runs at Citizens Bank Park, setting a new Major League record by both teams in a game. The D-backs won, 13-8.

Jarrod Dyson, Ketel Marte and David Peralta, the first three D-backs batters of the night, got Arizona going with back-to-back-to-back blasts on its way to a club-record eight long balls. Eduardo Escobar and Ildemaro Vargas each slugged two in the game, and Alex Avila hit one as well.

“It was just good to get it going,” Dyson said. “Leading off with a homer set the tone and guys came behind me and did the same thing. We’ve been swinging some good bats lately and we’re just trying to continue it. We’re just trying to get a good pitch to hit. That’s the goal, that’s the gameplan when we get in the box. We know that’s a great ballclub over there, and we’re just trying to come out and give our pitcher a little cushion.”

Scott Kingery hit two of five by the Phillies, who also got one each from Jean Segura, Rhys Hoskins and Jay Bruce. It was Hoskins' shot in the ninth that tied the record and Bruce, two batters later, who hit the record-breaker.

"I didn’t know that [it was a record] until I got back in here, but for some reason the ball was just absolutely flying," Kingery said. "It felt like every ball that went in the air was a home run. I’m not sure if that had to do with the weather, the humidity, I don’t know. It was just crazy out there."

"I think tonight was a good indication of how the ball travels here in the middle of the summer," Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said.

Philadelphia starter Jerad Eickhoff took the brunt of Arizona's output, giving up five home runs in three-plus innings. He was lifted in the fourth after issuing a leadoff walk followed by Escobar's first homer of the game, then another walk preceding Avila's blast.

"I couldn’t adjust," Eickhoff said. "I couldn't adjust to everything. I’d do a thing here, wouldn’t adjust, it didn’t work out, make an adjustment here, it didn’t work. It was just kind of one of those nights. Every mistake I made they were able to put a pretty good swing on it. They were able to do that throughout the night. The most frustrating thing is just not keeping us in the game."

The new record could have been 14, but a drive by Philadelphia's Nick Williams in the eighth inning that was originally ruled a home run was changed to a double following review.

The previous Major League record of 12 was held by the Tigers and White Sox -- who did it against each other twice, on May 28, 1995, at Tiger Stadium, and again on July 2, 2002, at Guaranteed Rate Field. The National League record had been 11, accomplished four times. The last instance was May 17, 1979, by the Cubs and Phillies in 10 innings at Wrigley Field. The only nine-inning game of the four in the NL was on June 11, 1967, between the Cubs and Mets in Chicago.

“You can’t really explain it,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said of the new record. “It was just a bunch of really good hitters getting after it and not letting up on the gas pedal.”