Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber, who spent a memorable 41-game run with the Boston Red Sox last season, had himself a record-setting night on Friday.
The former Red Sox knocked 32 home runs last season between his split campaign with the Washington Nationals and Boston.
Schwarber surpassed that amount and then some, adding to his home run total when he took a 3-2 pitch from Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Max Fried over the bullpen fencing in the fourth inning. The round-tripper — his 39th this season — marked a new single-season career-high for the 29-year-old left-handed power hitter, previously set with the Chicago Cubs in 2019.
Schwarber’s deep drive to right-center broke a scoreless tie and gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead over the Braves.
Schwarber, in his debut campaign with the Phillies, has been the best power-hitting bat in the National League this season. His 39 home runs put him in the NL lead, four ahead of Braves third baseman Austin Riley, who currently sits runner-up to Schwarber.
Back in August, Schwarber found himself in a tight race against Paul Goldschmidt of the St. Louis Cardinals amid his strong run at Triple Crown contention.
Entering Friday’s road series opener, Schwarber has hit .214/.312/.482 with 20 doubles and 80 RBIs in 137 games played for the Phillies this year.
