Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber tied a major league record by hitting four home runs against the visiting Atlanta Braves on Thursday night, becoming the second player in little more than a month to accomplish the feat.
The National League home run leader now with 49, Schwarber hit the record-tying blast on a 1-2 pitch off Atlanta reliever Wander Suero with two on and one out in the bottom of the seventh inning. That also gave him a club-record nine RBIs on the night.
The Phillies won the game 19-4, hitting a club-record-tying seven home runs as a team.
Schwarber got a chance at No. 5 in the bottom of the eighth inning but popped out to shallow left field on a 57 mph pitch by Braves infielder Vidal Brujan.
¡°I wish I didn¡¯t ask the question in the cage how many guys hit five homers,¡± Schwarber joked in a postgame interview on the Phillies¡¯ broadcast.
Schwarber hit a solo home run to right in the first inning, putting the Phillies on the board after Atlanta scored three runs in the top of the first. He added a two-run shot in the fourth and a three-run homer in the fifth.
¡°It was a good night,¡± Schwarber added. ¡°A fun night for everyone. Good way to start the series after the previous series (a three-game sweep in New York at the hands of the Mets).¡±
Schwarber is the 21st player in big league history to hit four home runs in a game. The most recent four-homer game occurred less than five weeks ago, when the Athletics¡¯ Nick Kurtz became the first rookie to do it on July 25 against the Houston Astros.
This is the third four-homer game by a Phillies player since 1900, with Schwarber joining Mike Schmidt (1976) and Chuck Klein (1936). Ed Delahanty also hit four on July 13, 1896, the second four-homer game in history according to MLB.com.
Schwarber is batting .248 but with 119 RBIs and a .956 OPS. The 32-year-old is in the midst of perhaps his best season in the majors, with the 49 homers a new career high and the RBIs already a career-high mark.
He was named MVP of the All-Star Game last month after hitting three home runs in a home run derby-style swing-off to win it for the NL.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.