Major League clubs were off to a hot start Wednesday, scoring first-inning runs at a rapid pace. In fact, the 38 runs plated in the first inning were the most the big leagues have seen since July 30, 2011, according to ESPN.
On that date just over five years ago, MLB teams totaled 39 runs in the first frame. However, unlike Wednesday's 15-game schedule, that late-July slate in 2011 was aided by the addition of a 16th game, a doubleheader between the Orioles and Yankees. In the second game of that twin bill, the Yankees established a franchise record with 12 first-inning runs.
No team came near to equaling that scoring output Wednesday as the 38 runs were spread across 10 games and 14 clubs. The Rockies and Dodgers were responsible for the biggest first inning, combining for seven runs at Coors Field. Colorado scored five of those, the most of any team, in an eventual 12-2 win over the Dodgers.
Three other teams -- the Cardinals, Pirates and Rays -- totaled four in the opening frame.
Fifteen of the runs came via home runs by the Pirates' Matt Joyce, the Dodgers' Justin Turner, the Rockies' Nolan Arenado and Mark Reynolds, the Rays' Steven Souza Jr., the Mets' Curtis Granderson and the Rangers' Carlos Beltrán. Beltran's 415th career home run -- a solo shot at Camden Yards -- was particularly notable as his first with Texas.