Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber Just Did Something Together That Hasn’t Happened in MLB in 94 Years

Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber walked into the clubhouse Saturday night and basically rewrote a 94-year-old piece of baseball history. The Phillies beat the Mets 15-3, but the scoreboard tells you nothing about what actually happened.

Harper hit for the cycle. Schwarber hit three home runs. In the same game. That’s a combo that hasn’t happened since Lou Gehrig went deep four times and Tony Lazzeri cycled for the Yankees back in 1932. The only other time in MLB history. Think about that for a second.

Schwarber started the third inning by launching a 456-foot bomb off Freddy Peralta to the second deck in right. Later in that same inning, he stepped in against Cionel Perez and crushed a 457-footer to almost the exact same spot. By the seventh inning he had a two-run shot off Tobias Myers for his fifth career three-homer game. That’s 28 home runs now. Nobody in the majors has more.

Harper’s night was its own kind of ridiculous. Solo homer in the first. Double and single in the third. Then in the fifth he tripled to left-center to complete the cycle. It’s the 11th cycle in Phillies history and somehow it wasn’t even the most impressive individual performance on his own team that same night.

The Phillies are suddenly dangerous

Philadelphia improved to 41-35 with the win. They’re sitting second in the NL East behind Atlanta, but games like this make you wonder if they can close the gap. The offense has been waiting for something like this. A spark. Combine that with Harper finding his rhythm and Schwarber doing Schwarber things, and the lineup has a different look.

The Mets got crushed and that’s the story for them right now. Their pitching has been suspect. Freddy Peralta took the loss and dropped to 5-6. The bullpen got even worse. But the Phillies aren’t going to feel sorry for anyone.

Game 3 of the series is Sunday at 7:20 p.m. ET. The Phillies can sweep and build some real momentum heading into a brutal stretch of the schedule. If Harper and Schwarber stay hot together, that’s a problem for the rest of the division.