Kyle Schwarber made sure his Philadelphia Phillies bounced back after being swept by the New York Mets earlier this week.
Schwarber went 4-for-6 with four home runs and nine RBI in Philadelphia’s 19-4 win over the Atlanta Braves on Thursday. His first home run of the night came in the first inning, a solo shot for his 46th of the season.
In the fourth inning, the three-time All-Star blasted his second home run of the night (47), this time a two-run knock.
Schwarber’s third long ball came in the following frame, with his 48th being a three-run homer.
Finally, in the seventh inning, Schwarber hit his fourth home run (49) of the night to right field to come within one dinger of 50 for the season.
The 32-year-old made all kinds of history on Thursday against the Phillies’ division rival. He already surpassed his previous career high for home runs in a single season, but also became just the fourth player in franchise history to have four homers in a game and the first since Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt did so in 1976.
Additionally, Schwarber is only the 21st player in MLB history to achieve this feat, and the fifth player all-time with at least four homers and nine RBI in a game. Plus, Schwarber joined the Athletics’ Nick Kurtz and Seattle Mariners’ Eugenio Suarez as the only players to have a four-homer game this season — the first time this has occurred.
Clearly, Schwarber and the Phillies were anxious to get out of Queens and return to Philadelphia. The Phillies’ offense scored just eight runs across the three-game set against the Mets. They scored 19 runs off the Braves’ pitching on Thursday.
Schwarber received “MVP” chants from Phillies fans on Thursday, and rightfully so. He’s on his way to breaking Ryan Howard’s previous franchise record of 58 home runs in a season, which earned him the 2006 National League MVP for his performance.
