PHILADELPHIA — In a season of milestones, Kyle Schwarber added an indelible one Thursday.

Schwarber became just the 21st player in major league history to hit four home runs in a game and set the Phillies franchise record with nine RBIs in a 19-4 win over Atlanta Thursday night.

Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto and Max Kepler homered in the first inning, and Bryce Harper added a solo shot in the third as the Phillies banished a sweep in New York in explosive fashion, with 20 hits and seven home runs. It’s just the third seven-homer game in club history.

But it was all about Schwarber. He moved into sole possession of second place in franchise history for homers in a season at 49, leaving only Ryan Howard’s 58 in 2006. He’s got a month to chase the record down.

He’s the fourth Phillie to hit four homers in a game, joining Ed Delahanty on July 13, 1896; Chuck Klein on July 10, 1936; and Mike Schmidt on April 17, 1976. Klein and Schmidt both needed 10 innings to do it. He’s the third player this season, joining Eugenio Suarez, then with Arizona on April 26, and the Athletics’ Nick Kurtz on July 25.

Schwarber answered the Braves’ three runs in the first inning with a solo shot to the second deck in right to get the Phillies right back in it. He hit a two-run shot off reliever Austin Cox in the fourth, his first of two off the lefty. That gives Schwarber 19 home runs off lefties this season, one more than he hit off southpaws in his first seven seasons combined. He also has 13 home runs off left-handed relievers this year, a major league record in the divisional era, passing the 11 hit by Barry Bonds in 2002.

He added a three-run shot off Wander Suero in the seventh to get to nine RBIs. In a bid for a fifth homer, Schwarber popped out to shallow left off shortstop-turned-pitcher Vidal Brujan in the eighth.

The game got off to a rocky start, with Aaron Nola allowing three runs in the top of the first. He walked Ozzie Albies with the bases loaded, then gave up a two-run single to Michael Harris II. But the Braves ran into an out, Bryson Stott relaying home for a 2-4-2 put out of a double steal and Realmuto applying the tag on Albies before he could slide around him.

That stopped the damage at three runs, giving the struggling Nola a lifeline. For a pitcher that entered with a 6.52 ERA, he made the most of his reprieve. He got through six innings, allowing four runs on four hits.

Kyle Schwarber is congratulated after hitting a two-run home run against Atlanta Braves pitcher Austin Cox during the fourth inning Thursday. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

He retired eight straight batters, interrupted by Matt Olson’s solo homer to lead off the sixth. He walked three, though just one after the first inning, and struck out four.

His four strikeouts bring him to 1,845 for his career, passing Cole Hamels for third in Phillies history.

The batters punished the Braves for their wastefulness, with an even shakier arm on the bump in Cal Quantrill. Realmuto’s first-pitch bomb to left tied the game at 3 after just four batters. Kepler ripped one out to right with two outs to put the Phillies up for good at 5-3.

They kept piling on. Harper led off the third with a solo homer. Harrison Bader, who finished a homer shy of the cycle with four hits, tripled in the fourth and scored on a single by Stott, who was chased home by Trea Turner’s double.

A two-run double by Alec Bohm made it 12-3 after four. Schwarber’s three-run jack the opposite way in the fifth stretched the lead to 15. Edmundo Sosa made it 19 in the eighth with an RBI single.

https://www.mcall.com/2025/08/28/schwarber-goes-long-4-times-into-record-books/