In
baseball, a
home run (abbreviated
HR, also "homer", "dinger", "bomb", "blast", "Big Dog" or "four-bagger") is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the
batter is able to circle the bases and reach home
safely in one play without any
errors being committed by the defensive team in the process. In modern baseball, the feat is typically achieved by hitting the ball over the
outfield fence between the
foul poles (or making contact with either foul pole) without first touching the ground, resulting in an automatic home run. There is also the "
inside-the-park" home run, increasingly rare in modern baseball, where the batter reaches home safely while the baseball is in play on the field. When a home run is scored, the batter is also credited with a
hit and a run scored, and an
RBI for each runner that scores, including himself. Likewise, the pitcher is recorded as having given up a hit, and a run for each runner that scores including the batter.