When all of the Yanks hits were home runs

The Yankees hit a lot of home runs. They led the league this year, and have been near the top of the league for most of this decade. Some have even said that they’re too reliant on the home run, and that it doesn’t compensate for a lack of hitting with RISP. Even so, it’s tough to argue against the home run, the single best outcome of any at bat.

At the Baseball Reference Blog, Andy takes a look at games wherein all of a team’s hits were home runs. There are 39 such incidences, though the parameters are set so the minimum number of hits/home runs is two. The Yankees, as you might imagine, inhabit a few spots near the top of the list. The top is Cleveland, beating Texas 7-3 on the power of six hits. The Yankees show up directly afterward.

On July 15, 2004, the Yankees beat the Tigers 5-1, smashing five solo home runs. Alex Rodriguez hit two of them, and was supported by Derek Jeter, Hideki Matsui, and Kenny Lofton. Four of the five came off Tigers starter Jeremy Bonderman, who pitched seven innings. That seems odd for a guy who gave up four home runs, but remember that they were the only four hits he surrendered, and they were all solo homers. Jose Contreras started that game for the Yankees, pitching eight innings and allowing one run on four hits, striking out eight.

(The Yanks would trade Contreras 16 days later.He pitched well in his next start, on July 20, but bot bombed in his two after that. I wonder if he hadn’t gotten killed by Boston and Baltimore if the Yanks would have traded him at all.)

The only other time the Yankees did this was on July 3, 1975, when Bobby Bonds hit two home runs off Cleveland’s Don Hood in a 3-2 loss. It has also happened three times to the Yankees, in 2001, 1987, and 2002. The Yanks won only one of those games.