The Phillies packed up after the last series of their homestand against the Red Sox to travel up I-95 just a bit further north to the Bronx to play another beast of the AL East, the New York Yankees. After a successful start to the second half, the Phillies’ sole representative of the 2025 All-Star Game, and MVP of the evening, Kyle Schwarber, has been at the helm of this white-hot start. After collecting six RBIs in the past two games, the veteran slugger hit in last night’s come-from-behind 12-5 win featured not one but two Schwarbombs from the slugger, the first of which was the 1,000th hit of his career.

With a game-tying shot in the top of the fifth inning, Schwarber launched the career milestone 413 feet, the ball traveling at an electric speed of 113.8 mph, a no-doubter out over Trent Grisham’s head. Yankees’ starter, Will Warren, came out for another inning of work against the heart of the Phillies’ lineup. With Turner due up first, the Phillies needed a rally, being down two runs going into the middle of the game. Turner stepped into the right side of the box and quickly fell into a 0-2 hole. Then, with a fastball up in the zone, a mistake pitch from the young righty, Turner blooped a single out to right. Schwarber, batting second in last night’s game, dug in at the left side of the plate and only needed one swing to perfectly time up another four-seamer from Warren. With a hang time of just 4.2 seconds, the ball was lifted out to right-center, with Turner and Schwarber rounding the bases as a new ballgame began with the Phillies and Yankees now tied 2-2. The hit was also Schwarber’s 35th home run of the season, the 319th of his career, the most by any player in MLB history at the time of his 1,000th career hit. Mark McGwire is next with 311 homers at the time of his 1,000th hit, followed by Aaron Judge, who had 308 homers when he got his 1,000th hit last year. Schwarber’s two-homer game against the Yankees last night was the thirty-third multi-homer game of his career, bringing him to 36 home runs this season. He’s just one behind the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani for the National League lead.

Kyle Schwarber’s 1,000th career hit is a no-doubt homer! #FridayNightBaseball pic.twitter.com/JFDNw5D45o

— MLB (@MLB) July 26, 2025

Amongst the sea of blue and white pinstripes in the sold-out crowd of 47,018, a trio of Phillies fans were lucky enough to have caught Schwarber’s home run ball. They immediately obliged when offered to meet Schwarber to exchange the milestone ball with another after the game, and stunned the Philadelphia hero with their reply. After the game, the trio of Phillies fans who caught the home run got to meet him outside the visiting clubhouse. Schwarber met the group with a pair of signed baseballs, unaware that a third member was also present. When he realized that there was someone else with them, Schwarber said he would sign another one quickly; however, the third friend, who didn’t yet have a signed baseball put his right hand on Schwarber’s shoulder and told him that he didn’t care about the signed baseball, he just wanted him to re-sign with the Phillies. Schwarber laughed, got another signed ball, and gave it to the third friend; with the fan’s sentiments affirming what thousands of Phillies fans wish they could say to the slugger who will be testing free agency for the first time since 2022, when he first signed with the Phillies. Schwarber has undoubtedly reached the peak of his career in Philadelphia, with several individuals, both inside and outside the organization, not yet ready to say goodbye, leading to talks of extending His contract; however, no deal has been finalized between the slugger and his current team.

Schwarber’s pair of home runs sandwiched the most defining moment of the series opener: JT Realmuto’s tiebreaking three-run homer to left center that shifted the momentum of the game, putting the Phillies up 6-3 in the seventh inning. Realmuto and Schwarber’s fifth-inning home runs were just the tip of the iceberg as the Phillies’ offense exploded after Realmuto’s blast, scoring ten total runs in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings of the game. However, the Phillies’ strong offensive showing in the Bronx did not end after the first game, as Schwarber, along with Bryce Harper, led the team to victory again, tying the Mets for first place in the NL East with the matinee win.

We fear hot is a severe understatement of what Schwarbs is right now pic.twitter.com/4SOnDrA7W8

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) July 26, 2025

Harper blasted a homer deep to the right field bleachers, and Schwarber hit a two-run double as the Yankees committed their tenth error in five games. Another focal point in this Phillies lineup right now is shortstop Trea Turner, who drove in two runs in today’s game. Turner has gone 6 for 11, as the Phillies have outscored the Yankees 21-9 in the first two games of this three-game set. One key thing to watch, outside of the ball that seems to be jumping off the Phillies’ bat right now, is that an unsung hero of this current roster, Edmundo Sosa (who was also a part of today’s offensive heroics), left Saturday’s game with a bruised back after colliding with Brandon Marsh while attempting to catch a pop-up from Yankees’ second baseman, Jazz Chisolm Jr., in the seventh inning.

This injury, while hopefully minor, could be a devastating blow to the Phillies’ bench as they await the return of Alec Bohm. While the majority of the lineup doesn’t struggle with lefty pitching too much, some of the younger lefty-hitters of the lineup, like Bryson Stott, tend to sit. If Sosa is injured, or even just needs to sit an extra day today, Rob Thompson will need to start getting creative with the Phillies’ infield if he chooses a righty-heavy approach with the lineup for tomorrow’s series finale against the Yanks, who conveniently have southpaw Carlos Rodón taking the hill against the Phillies’ Zack Wheeler. Rodón is 10-7 on the season with a 3.10 ERA, and Wheeler is 9-3 on the year with a 2.39 ERA, making yet another strong case for the NL Cy Young Award. Tune in to see whether or not the Phillies can get a series sweep with the first pitch scheduled for 1:35 pm, and be sure to watch and see what milestone Kyle Schwarber could achieve next as fans await the news of an extension.