PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber homered in four of his first five at-bats Thursday night against Atlanta, pushing his season total to 49.
Schwarber is the fourth Phillies player to hit four homers in a game and the first since Mike Schmidt against the Chicago Cubs in April 1976. He's the third player in the majors to hit four homers in a game this season, following Eugenio Suárez and Nick Kurtz. It was the 21st four-homer game in major league history.
Schwarber began the day tied with the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani for the National League lead. Seattle’s Cal Raleigh tops the majors with 50.
The Philadelphia star had nine RBIs. He started the power surge with a solo shot in the first off Cal Quantrill, sending a 2-1, curveball into the seats in right field. Scharber hit a flyout to center in the second.
After Quantrill was lifted with one out and a pair of runners on base in the fourth, Schwarber greeted lefty Austin Cox by sending a 3-2 curveball over the wall in right for his fourth multi-homer game of the season.
With “M-V-P! M-V-P!” chants ringing down from Phillies fans in the fifth, Schwarber launched a three-run, opposite-field drive off Cox, giving him five RBIs and putting Philadelphia ahead 15-3. In the eighth, Schwarber hit a three-run shot to right off Wander Suero to make it 18-4.
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