Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber hit his 13th leadoff home run of the season against Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Bowden Francis on Wednesday, tying Alfonso Soriano’s 2003 major league record.
Just a day after hitting three home runs, Schwarber went deep for the fourth time in seven at-bats and got his sixth hit in that stretch when he smashed a 1-0 pitch into the second deck in right. The 416-foot homer was his 32nd of the season.
With his 44th leadoff home run, Schwarber tied Brady Anderson for ninth on the all-time list. Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson leads with 81, while Toronto’s George Springer is the active leader with 60.
Soriano hit 54 leadoff home runs, including 13 for the New York Yankees in 2003. Both Soriano and Schwarber are the only players with more than one season of 10 or more leadoff home runs.
On Tuesday night, Schwarber’s third homer was a go-ahead, three-run shot in the ninth inning, helping the Phillies come back to beat Toronto 10-9 after allowing six runs in the first inning.
The two-time All-Star and 2022 NL home run leader went 5 for 6 with six RBIs and fell just a triple short of the cycle.
