Kyle Schwarber etched his name into the record books Thursday night in Philadelphia, blasting four home runs in the Phillies’ 19-4 rout of the Braves. The slugger became just the 21st player in Major League history and the fourth in franchise history to accomplish the rare feat.
Schwarber went 4-for-6 with a Phillies-record nine RBI, powering a night that also put him atop the National League home run leaderboard with a career-high 49. Only Seattle’s Cal Raleigh sits ahead of him in the majors, and Schwarber’s 119 RBI now stand as the best mark of his career.
“It’s pretty cool,” Schwarber said after the game. “It was a fun night, great atmosphere. Wouldn’t want to do it with a better group of guys than we have here.”
The performance marked the first four-homer game for a Phillies player since Mike Schmidt did it at Wrigley Field in April 1976. It was also the third such game in the majors this season, joining Eugenio Suárez and Nick Kurtz. Schwarber’s 49 long balls now place him second on the Phillies’ single-season list, behind only Ryan Howard’s 58 in 2006.
Remarkably, Schwarber entered the game hitless in his last 20 at-bats, the longest slump ever broken by a four-homer performance since 1900. He snapped out of it with a solo shot in the first inning off Cal Quantrill, then added a three-run blast in the fourth, another three-run drive in the fifth, and capped the night with a three-run homer in the seventh. His only out against a pitcher was a flyout in the second inning, while he later popped out against Braves infielder Vidal Brujan, who was pressed into mop-up duty.
The 32-year-old now has 333 career home runs over 11 seasons, primarily with the Cubs and Phillies. Last season, he hit a career-best 47 homers, a number he has already surpassed as Philadelphia looks to ride his bat into October.
Schwarber’s night not only reminded fans of his raw power, but also placed him alongside some of the greatest names in Phillies history. In a season filled with MVP chants from the Citizens Bank Park faithful, this was one for the ages.