Last Updated on September 7, 2026 by Matt Musico
It was an exciting day at Citizens Bank Park on Monday. The Philadelphia Phillies’ resident slugger, Kyle Schwarber, blasted his 43rd home run of the year to push his squad ahead of the Atlanta Braves in a 1-0 victory.
While the biggest highlight of all was Philly southpaw Jesus Luzardo twirling his first career complete game — a two-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts — Schwarber made plenty of headlines with his go-ahead tater in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Kyle Schwarber!
Schwarbomb No. 43 breaks the scoreless tie in the 8th! pic.twitter.com/UehLSi2UOo
— MLB (@MLB) September 7, 2026
The left-handed slugger seems to be heating up at a perfect time for the Phils. It’s his third straight game with a homer, and the victory brought them within four games of the Braves in the National League East.
Through 618 plate appearances, Schwarber is now slashing .243/.358/.530 with a 136 wRC+. These numbers are accompanied by 43 homers, 87 RBI, and 86 runs scored. Those 43 taters are the most in baseball, and his recent homer streak is helping him stay on top of the leaderboard.
Why This Kyle Schwarber Home Run Is Significant
While every homer is meaningful in its own way — especially in September when a team is fighting for postseason positioning — this blast from Schwarber was significant for a couple of other reasons, and they were both pointed out by MLB.com’s Sarah Langs.
The first one she pointed out was the fact that Schwarber is used to hitting home runs in 1-0 games. It’s actually the fifth time he’s done this, which ties him with Ted Williams on what I’d call a pretty obscure all-time home run list:
This is the fifth time in his career that Kyle Schwarber homered in a game that ended 1-0
That ties Ted Williams for the most such homers all-time
h/t @EliasSports https://t.co/0NGsDtLPGN
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) September 7, 2026
The other reason this homer was significant is also obscure, but not as much as the above stat. This clutch tater was Schwarber’s 230th since joining the Phillies in 2022. According to Langs, that’s the second-most in MLB history by a player during his first five seasons with a club.
And the left-handed slugger has enough time to catch the man at the top of the leaderboard, which is none other than Babe Ruth himself:
Most home runs in first 5 seasons with a team:
Babe Ruth, NYY: 235
Kyle Schwarber, PHI: 230
Mark McGwire, STL: 220
Ralph Kiner, PIT: 215
Alex Rodriguez, NYY: 208
David Ortiz, BOS: 208
Albert Pujols, STL: 201 https://t.co/0NGsDtLPGN— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) September 7, 2026
That’s quite a list of sluggers, don’t you think? If you look up and you see your name with all of those guys, you know you’re in the middle of doing something impressive.
This Schwarber homer also broke Ryan Howard’s record for the most homers during any five-year span in Phillies history. But you know what might be safe for another year?
It’s his Phillies single-season home run record. The Big Piece has been atop Philly’s leaderboard since 2006 after slugging 58 homers during his National League MVP performance. Schwarber nearly caught him in 2025 with 56 homers of his own, but he had to settle for second place.
He’s gotten himself in the ballpark again this year (pun intended), but Schwarber would have to go on a pretty insane tear this month to make it happen. I wouldn’t put it past him by any means, though. We’ll see what the rest of this month holds as the Phillies prepare for another trip to the postseason.
Enjoyed this one? Sign up for the Bases Loaded Bulletin — my monthly print newsletter — for deep dives like this delivered straight to your mailbox. Or grab a copy of The Power Kings for the full story of every MLB franchise’s greatest home run seasons.
