Kyle Schwarber joined an exclusive list Thursday night with his history-making game.
In the Philadelphia Phillies’ 19-4 drubbing of the Atlanta Braves, Schwarber mashed four home runs, becoming just the 21st player in MLB history to do so. It was the first four home run game of Schwarber’s career and the first for the Phillies since Mike Schmidt did it in 1976.
Schwarber joined Eugenio Suarez and Nick Kurtz as the only three players to hit four home runs in a game this season. According to Sarah Langs, this season is the first in MLB history to feature three separate four home run games.
Now you may be wondering exactly how the Braves tie into all of this. They unfortunately found the bad side of history after Schwarber’s performance.
We mentioned above that Suarez was one of three players with four homers in a game this season. That performance came against Atlanta back on April 26 when he was still with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Braves became the first team in MLB history to allow multiple four home run games in one season.
Atlanta was fortunate enough to escape Arizona with an 8-7 win after Suarez’s outstanding performance. The result obviously wasn’t the same on Thursday, as the Braves allowed nearly 20 runs.
The Braves nearly became the first team to allow five home runs in a game, as Schwarber stepped to the plate again in the bottom of the eighth inning with a chance to stand alone in the history books. He popped out to left field, ending any chance at five homers. He did, though, receive a standing ovation as he left the field.
Schwarber’s performance may have catapulted him ahead of Shohei Ohtani as he chases the first MVP award of his career.