Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber ties major league record with four-homer night

PHILADELPHIA — Kyle Schwarber hit four home runs in Philadelphia’s 19-4 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Thursday night to become the fourth Phillies player and 21st major leaguer to accomplish the feat.

Schwarber was 4 for 6 with a Phillies-record nine RBIs.

He took the outright National League homer lead with a career-high 49 and moved within one of Seattle’s Cal Raleigh for the major league lead. Schwarber leads the majors with a career-high 119 RBIs.

Mike Schmidt was the last Philadelphia player to hit four homers in a game, doing at the Chicago Cubs in April 1976. Schwarber had the third four-homer game of the season, following Eugenio Suárez and Nick Kurtz.

The Philadelphia star started the power surge with a solo shot in the first off Cal Quantrill (4-12), sending a 2-1, curveball into the seats in right field. Schwarber hit a flyout to center in the second.

After Quantrill was lifted with one out and two 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 to put Philadelphia ahead 15-3. In the seventh, Schwarber hit a three-run shot to right off Wander Suero to make it 18-4.

Schwarber popped out in the eighth to short left field with third baseman Vidal Bruján on the mound.

After Philadelphia starter Aaron Nola (3-7) labored through a three-run, 37-pitch first inning, Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto and Max Kepler homered in the bottom of the inning. Bryce Harper also went deep for Philadelphia, which had 20 hits.