Most Runs in a Single MLB Game

The Texas Rangers hold the modern MLB record for the most runs by one team in a single game, scoring 30 in a 30-3 demolition of the Baltimore Orioles on August 22, 2007. No other team has reached 30 runs since the modern era began in 1900, and the Rangers did it after actually falling behind 3-0.

A 30-run game is one of baseball’s strangest sights: a normal nine-inning contest that turns into a track meet. It takes a perfect storm of hot bats, a shorthanded pitching staff and a merciless offense that refuses to let up. Here is the full leaderboard of the highest-scoring MLB games ever, both by one team and by both teams combined, and the stories behind the biggest blowouts. All figures are through the 2025 season.

The record holder: the Rangers’ 30 runs

On August 22, 2007, Texas trailed the Orioles 3-0 in the first game of a doubleheader at Camden Yards. Then the visitors exploded, scoring five in the fourth, six in the sixth, nine in the eighth and 10 in the ninth. Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Ramon Vazquez each drove in seven runs, and Texas won 30-3, the most lopsided high score of the modern era.

It remains the only 30-run game since 1900. The pre-1900 record is higher, but the offense-heavy, loosely governed baseball of the 19th century is a different sport, which is why the Rangers’ 30 stands as the benchmark for modern fans.

The full leaderboard of highest-scoring games

The table below ranks the highest single-team run totals in a game, with the pre-modern all-time record and the combined-runs record noted for context.

Runs	Team	Opponent	Date	Note
36	Chicago Colts	Louisville	Jun 29, 1897	All-time record (pre-1900)
30	Texas Rangers	Baltimore Orioles	Aug 22, 2007	Modern (post-1900) record
29	Boston Red Sox	St. Louis Browns	Jun 8, 1950
28	St. Louis Cardinals	Philadelphia Phillies	Jul 6, 1929
27	Cleveland Indians	Boston Red Sox	Jul 7, 1923
26	Chicago Cubs	Philadelphia Phillies	Aug 25, 1922	Part of 49-run combined game

The Rangers’ 30 leads the modern era, but the Colts’ 36-run outburst in 1897 remains the all-time single-team mark. The rest of the list is dominated by high-offense eras such as the 1920s and 1930s.

The combined-runs record: 49 in one game

While one-team totals grab headlines, the record for most combined runs by both teams is 49, set on August 25, 1922. The Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies 26-23 in a game the Cubs once led 25-6 before nearly collapsing. That single afternoon produced more runs than some low-scoring series, and it has stood for more than a century. For the opposite extreme, our look at the longest game in MLB history shows how a night can go the other way entirely.

Why blowouts like this happen

Historic run totals usually share a few ingredients: a depleted bullpen forced to keep pitching in a lost cause, a hitter-friendly ballpark and an era when scoring ran high. The Rangers’ 2007 game featured an Orioles staff that simply ran out of arms, and the offense kept swinging. These outbursts are cousins of the power surges tracked in our leaderboards for the most home runs in a season and the most home runs all time.

Why the record matters

Single-game run records capture baseball at its most extreme, when the normal rhythms of the sport break down completely. The Rangers’ 30 is the modern high-water mark precisely because it is so rare, a number that has stood alone for nearly two decades. The teams that pile up runs like this are often the same offensive juggernauts that chase the best regular-season record in MLB history across a full year.

The short version: the Texas Rangers scored 30 runs against the Orioles in 2007 for the most by one team in a modern MLB game, ahead of the Red Sox (29) and Cardinals (28). The all-time single-team record is the Chicago Colts’ 36 in 1897, and the combined-runs record is 49, all through the 2025 season.