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Philadelphia Phillies Slugger Kyle Schwarber Keeps Making History Out of Leadoff Spot

Kyle Schwarber blasted another home run as the Philadelphia Phillies' leadoff man on Monday, reaching 100 RBI for the second season in a row.

Sam Connon

Sep 23, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper (3), designated hitter Kyle Schwarber (12) and catcher Garrett Stubbs (21) celebrate winning National League East Division with a win against the Chicago Cubs at Citizens Bank Park.
Sep 23, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper (3), designated hitter Kyle Schwarber (12) and catcher Garrett Stubbs (21) celebrate winning National League East Division with a win against the Chicago Cubs at Citizens Bank Park. / Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
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The Philadelphia Phillies have won their first NL East title in over a decade, thanks in part to yet another historic performance by Kyle Schwarber.

The 31-year-old designated hitter opened Monday night's showdown with the Chicago Cubs by lining a single to right. When he stepped up to the plate again in the third, Schwarber crushed a 412-foot solo home run to right-center.

Schwarber ended the night 2-for-5 with a run, an RBI and a strikeout, all while the Phillies clinched the division championship with a comfortable 6-2 win. He is now batting .250 with 37 home runs, 100 RBI and an .855 OPS on the season.

Combined with the 47 home runs and 104 RBI he racked up in 20223, Schwarber is now the first Phillies player with back-to-back 100-RBI seasons since Ryan Howard did so from 2006 to 2011, per MLB Stats.

As noted by MLB.com's Sarah Langs, Schwarber's 100 RBI are tied for the fourth-most out of the leadoff spot in a single season since the stat became official in 1920. Mookie Betts set the record with 107 RBI in 2023, trailed closely by Ronald Acuña Jr. and his 106.

Schwarber joins 2023 Marcus Semien and 2000 Darin Erstad in fourth place, while 2017 Charlie Blackmon – who just announced his retirement Monday night – sits alone in third with 103.

According to TSN's StatsCentre, Schwarber's 37 home runs as the Phillies' leadoff man are tied for the fifth-most in a season in National League history. Acuña set the record with 41 last year, while Betts tied Alfonso Soriano's previous record with 39.

Schwarber has yet to reach his career-high in the category, considering he hit 38 such home runs back in 2022.

The veteran slugger is now also one of six players in Phillies franchise history to record multiple 35-home run, 100-RBI campaigns. Mike Schmidt had nine such seasons, followed by Ryan Howard's four, then Chuck Klein's three.

Like Schwarber, Greg Luzinski and Jim Thome also joined the club twice.

Schwarber and the Phillies now have one week left to try and secure the No. 1 seed in the National League. They currently trail the Los Angeles Dodgers by 0.5 games, having played and lost one more contest.

Philadelphia and Chicago will face off again at 6:40 p.m. ET.

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Sam Connon
SAM CONNON

Sam Connon is a Staff Writer for Fastball on the Sports Illustrated/FanNation networks. He previously covered UCLA Athletics for Sports Illustrated/FanNation's All Bruins, 247Sports' Bruin Report Online, Rivals' Bruin Blitz, the Bleav Podcast Network and the Daily Bruin, with his work as a sports columnist receiving awards from the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon also wrote for Sports Illustrated/FanNation's New England Patriots site, Patriots Country, and he was on the Patriots and Boston Red Sox beats at Prime Time Sports Talk.

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