Kyle Schwarber apparently had enough.
The Philadelphia Phillies superstar slugger helped his team stop their dismal three-game losing streak with authority by tying the major-league record for single-game homers with four in the Phillies’ 19-4 rout of the Atlanta Braves on Thursday.
Schwarber went 4 for 6 and became the 19th major leaguer, and fourth Phillies player, to hit four home runs in a game but the third to do so this year. He joins Eugenio Suarez, formerly of the Arizona Diamondbacks, and Nick Kurtz of the Athletics to do so this year.
Franchise-legend Mike Schmidt was the last to hit four home runs in a game, while driving in eight in a game at Wrigley Field in April 1976, but Schwarber set a Phillies record for single-game RBIs (9), boosting his major-league-leading total to 119.
With his historic night, Schwarber pulled within one home run of Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners, who leads the majors with 50 blasts.
How Did Kyle Schwarber Hit Four Home Runs?
Though the Phillies trailed 3-0 before Schwarber could even step into the batter’s box, he wasted no time by swatting a hanging curveball for a 450-foot, 111.7mph homer off Braves starter Cal Quantrill into the second deck at Citizens Bank Park in his first plate appearance.
He slugged his second of the night as part of Philadelphia’s six-run fourth inning that broke the game open. He curled a hanging curveball around the right-field foul pole off Austin Cox and gave the Phillies 10-3 lead.
Schwarber got Cox again in the fifth inning by muscling a fast ball to left field into the third row of seats for his third-career three-homer game that made it 15-3.
Two innings later, he made baseball history by scalding a 407-foot blast off Wander Suero off the basing of the second deck, making it 18-4 and leading to “M-V-P” chants from the 41,293 in South Philadelphia.
Schwarber actually got the chance for five home runs — while hitting against infielder Vidal Brujan — yet could only pop out to left field on a 57.4mph pitch.
What Did Kyle Schwarber Say About Hitting Four Home Runs?
Schwarber is one of the most prolific power hitters of his era, since he is in the midst of his fourth straight 35-plus-homer season.
Yet, he is picking the best time to have a career year for power, since this is the final year of his four-year, $79 million contract signed before the 2022 season.
The MVP of the All-Star Game, who is now both the MLB RBI leader and NL home-run leader, had the ultimate downplay of his historic game while doing an interview with Tom McCarthy of NBC Sports Philadelphia.
“It was a good night,” Schwarber said. “Fun night for everyone.”
Schwarber pointed specifically to his first homer, which led to a five-run frame and gave the Phillies the lead after Nola’s suspect start.
“It was big,” Schwarber said. “We knew we wanted to come out tonight and have some really quality at-bats and we had, what? three homers in the first inning? That was great, and then we just kept going.”
Even in the midst of his historic night, Schwarber credited his teammates, since the Phillies set a franchise record with seven home runs.
“I look all around, it was great at-bats all around,” Schwarber said. “You look at the at-bats all around the lineups, and that’s what we needed tonight. It was a great all-around win.”
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Phillies Slugger Ties MLB Record In Blowout Win Over Braves appeared first on Heavy Sports.