Kyle Schwarber hit his 40th home run of the season Wednesday in Seattle, a 425-foot, three-run blast to right-center field that capped a four-run second inning and sent the Philadelphia Phillies past the Mariners 6-0.
The shot came off Bryan Woo's fastball and gave Schwarber sole possession of the MLB home run lead. The 33-year-old also matched a franchise record, according to the Associated Press, reaching 40 homers for a fourth season with Philadelphia, tying a mark previously set by Ryan Howard.
Schwarber had entered the game in an 0-for-7 slump before snapping it with a double in the first inning. Bryce Harper had already put the Phillies up 2-0 with a two-run homer in that first frame, his 27th of the year, which also extended his on-base streak to a career-best 29 games. Justin Crawford added an RBI single in the second before Schwarber connected.
Jesus Luzardo was dominant on the mound. He retired his first 14 batters before allowing a two-out single in the fourth inning and finished with nine strikeouts over seven innings. He gave up just one hit and walked three. The performance pushed Luzardo past 200 strikeouts for the second consecutive season. Over five August starts covering 33 and two-thirds innings, he has allowed just five earned runs. His record improved to 12-5.
Woo took the loss, dropping to 9-9. The 26-year-old right-hander lasted four innings, allowing all six Phillies runs on five hits while striking out five. Tim Mayza and Jhoan Duran closed out Philadelphia's 16th shutout of the season. Seattle finished with just two hits.
The win kept the Phillies at 74-60 and 4.5 games back of Atlanta in the NL East, with the Braves scheduled to face the Dodgers later Wednesday. The Mariners fell to 64-70, three games behind first-place Houston in the AL West.
Philadelphia opens a three-game weekend series in Los Angeles on Friday with Andrew Painter starting against Reid Detmers. The Mariners head to Toronto, where Dylan Cease is scheduled to start for the Blue Jays.
