Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber becomes 21st player with four-homer game in MLB history

In an impressive season for home runs, one of the game’s best long-ball hitters made history on Thursday night.

Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber homered four times in five at-bats against Atlanta, pushing his season total to 49, a career high.

Schwarber began the day tied with the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani for the National League lead, now he sits one away from Seattle’s Cal Raleigh who tops the majors with 50.

The left-fielder has had three previous major league games with three homers, however it is his first time launching four in a single outing. He is the third to hit the milestone this season after the Athletics’ Nick Kurtz and Eugenio Suarez who completed the feat while with the Diamondbacks. Prior to these three, the last batter to reach four in a game was J.D. Martinez in 2017.

Scharber began 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 centre in the second.

— with files from the Associated Press