Kyle Schwarber torments former team in epic Phillies victory

Kyle Schwarber hits 24th and 25th home runs in massive Phillies victory

Kyle Schwarber was only a Washington National for 72 games in 2021, but he made a lasting impression.

Over those games, he hit 25 home runs, including an outrageous June, when he homered 16 times in 18 games.

Now with the Philadelphia Phillies, who signed him to a four-year deal when the MLB lockout ended in March, Schwarber has continued to slug. He’s coming off a 12-homer June that won him National League Player of the Month.

And on Tuesday night, as the Phillies opened a three-game series against the Nationals, Schwarber welcomed them to the City of Brotherly Love with not one, but two home runs. To add insult to injury, that second home run matched his total during his Nationals tenure.

Understandably, the Nationals weren’t thrilled and spent most of the night tweeting about Schwarber.

And when he homered again:

They were grateful when he didn’t homer a third time, though there are two more games in this series for him to try again:

And finally, when the Phillies shut them out with a commanding 11-0 final score, the Nats went with a classic meme.

Put this game in historical context, and it’s not hard to see why the Schwarber homers hit extra hard on Tuesday night. This was the first time the Nationals played in Philadelphia since Schwarber wore their uniform, back on July 29, 2021. Of course, the Nats acting like a scorned ex, while fun Twitter fodder, carries little weight, as they’re the ones who chose to part ways with the slugger. Right after that doubleheader, the biggest sale of the trade deadline commenced; the Nationals traded Schwarber to the Red Sox, Max Scherzer and Trea Turner to the Dodgers, Daniel Hudson to the Padres, and Brad Hand – who is reunited with Schwarber on the Phillies – to the Blue Jays.

In the words of DJ Khaled, ‘Congratulations, you played yourself.’

But back to Schwarber, because not only does he lead his team in home runs (and RBI), but his 25th blast also put him atop the NL leaderboards. The only MLB player with more home runs is New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, who’s hit 29. No other Phillies batter has reached the 20-homer mark yet, either.

Schwarber’s 25th home run also made for some impressive franchise history. According to NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Corey Seidman, the only player in Phillies history to reach 25 homers in their first season with the club faster than Schwarber was Raul Ibañez in 2009. MLB’s Sarah Langs also noted that Schwarber now has the second-most multi-homer games in the leadoff spot in franchise history, behind Jimmy Rollins, who had eight. There’s plenty of time left in Schwarber’s contract to take that record from Rollins.

With the Phillies’ win tonight and a loss by the St. Louis Cardinals, the two are officially tied for the third NL Wild Card. Beating up on the Nationals is a good way to solidify their hold on a Wild Card; the Phillies play them 13 more times this year.