PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber homered in three of his first four at-bats Thursday night against Atlanta, pushing his season total to 48.

Schwarber began the day tied with the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani for the National League lead. Seattle’s Cal Raleigh tops the majors with 50.

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 center in the second.

After Quantrill was lifted with one out and a pair of 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, giving him five RBIs and putting Philadelphia ahead 15-3. It is the fourth time he has hit three homers in a game.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Featured

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have made roughly 3.6 times more arrests in Georgia in the first six months of President Donald Trump's term as they did during thelast six months of Joe Biden's presidency. (Phil Robibero/AJC)

Credit: Photo Illustration: Philip Robibero / AJC | Source: Getty, Open Street Map