Inside The Phillies

Kyle Schwarber Becomes Just Fourth Phillies Player Ever To Accomplish This Feat

Kyle Schwarber etched his name into some Philadelphia Phillies history.
Brad Wakai|
Jul 8, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber (12) smiles as he runs home on a two-run home run against the San Francisco Giants during the seventh inning at Oracle Park
Jul 8, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber (12) smiles as he runs home on a two-run home run against the San Francisco Giants during the seventh inning at Oracle Park | Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

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Philadelphia Phillies

The tone surrounding Tuesday's game might have been a bit different if the Philadelphia Phillies had held onto win.

Instead, a shocking ending that saw the Phillies lose in a manner that hadn't occurred in almost 100 years, has now created even more turmoil surrounding this team and their chances to actually make some noise in the playoffs.

It also overshadowed some great performances.

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Taijuan Walker returned to the starting rotation and pitched well, allowing just one run in four innings where he worked himself out of trouble to give Philadelphia a chance to win.

Otto Kemp broke the longstanding drought with runners in scoring position by coming through with an RBI double to tie the game in the top of the sixth inning.

However, it was Kyle Schwarber's mammoth two-run homer in the seventh that was the headliner.

On an 0-2 count, the superstar slugger launched a changeup 402 feet over the right field fence and into McCovey Cove.

Considering how hard it is to hit home runs in that ballpark, for him to send one into the water was a career milestone.

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He is now just the fourth Phillies player to ever hit a ball into McCovey Cove, joining Cody Asche, who was the first to do it in 2015, and his teammates Bryce Harper and Bryson Stott, who accomplished this feat in 2019 and 2022, respectively.

The San Francisco Giants moved into their current stadium that is now named Oracle Park in 2000.

Hitting balls into the water was made famous by Barry Bonds, but since he stopped playing, that feat has become rare to the point where there is a live tracker on the outfield wall that lists the total number of balls that have landed in McCovey Cove.

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Schwarber added his name -- and ball -- to that list.

It just would have felt a whole lot sweeter if it had occurred in a win.

For more Phillies news, head over to Phillies On SI.

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Brad Wakai
BRAD WAKAI

Brad Wakai graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Journalism. While an undergrad, he did work at the student radio station covering different Penn State athletic programs like football, basketball, volleyball, soccer and other sports. Brad currently is the Lead Contributor for Nittany Lions Wire of Gannett Media where he continues to cover Penn State athletics. He is also a contributor at FanSided, writing about the Philadelphia 76ers for The Sixers Sense. Brad is the host of the sports podcast I Said What I Said, discussing topics across the NFL, College Football, the NBA and other sports. You can follow him on Twitter: @bwakai

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