The race is on: Schwarber, Harper on similar timeline to reach 400-homer milestone

NEW YORK -- The race to 400 home runs is officially on between a pair of Phillies superstars.

One day after Bryce Harper inched closer to the milestone, Kyle Schwarber stayed on his heels with a massive game-winning two-run homer in Sunday afternoon's 5-4 win over the Mets at Citi Field. Schwarber's seventh-inning blast -- his MLB-leading 30th of the season -- proved to be the difference as the Phillies (47-37) won their fourth straight series (and seventh of their past eight).

Schwarber became the fastest Phillies player to reach the 30-homer plateau, needing only 84 team games to do so. The previous mark was held by Mike Schmidt, who hit his 30th homer in game No. 87 of the 1979 season.

“It’s funny, I remember the first time I hit 30 home runs in 2017, and I always felt like that was kind of a cool number that you want to get to,” Schwarber said. “So very fortunate to get to this point this early, but it's not something that I truly focus on.”

Schwarber is now on pace to hit 59 home runs this season -- a number that would surpass Ryan Howard's single-season franchise record of 58 in 2006. Harper, meanwhile, is on pace to hit 36.

Incredibly, that puts both Schwarber and Harper on pace to finish the season with exactly 399 career home runs.

Could there be a friendly race to 400?

“I don't think there's any competition between me and him on that,” Schwarber said with a smile. “ … But to see someone of his caliber be able to reach 400 -- and more -- it’ll be really cool. And whenever that day comes for me, it’ll be another cool milestone.”

As it stands, Schwarber has 370. Harper has 382.

“Everyone always asks me, ‘Hey, how many home runs are you gonna hit this year?’ And I’m just like, ‘Man, come on, I don’t know, guys,’” Schwarber joked recently. “I don't like to put numbers on myself. I just want to go up and have the best at-bat for the team; not ever make it about myself.”

Well, it's safe to say he helped both causes with one swing on Sunday.

With one on and the Phillies trailing by a run after letting a two-run lead slip away in the bottom of the sixth, Schwarber promptly restored the lead in the top of the seventh when he unloaded on a 1-2 fastball from Kodai Senga. The ball left Schwarber's bat at 108.3 mph and traveled a Statcast-projected 408 feet to right-center field.

Schwarber’s game-winner came one day after Harper hit a two-run shot of his own that just narrowly cleared the left-center-field wall. It would have been a home run in only one other ballpark (Wrigley Field).

But they both count the same in the quest to join that 400-homer club.

“It's a lot, man,” Harper said recently. “I mean, you think about the guys who have hit a lot of homers in this game, and it's funny to even be mentioned in that category. Because I don't technically see myself as a home run hitter, you know? I feel like I'm trying to hit doubles, and sometimes, I clip ‘em just right and they turn into homers.”

And Schwarber?

“Oh, when Kyle hits a ball, it's just gone,” Harper said. “Absolutely gone.”

Schwarber's latest homer helped the Phillies overcome an uneven day on the mound.

Jesús Luzardo cruised through four scoreless innings before a 30-pitch fifth derailed his afternoon. Though he stranded the bases loaded to escape having allowed only one run, the long inning raised his pitch count to 96 -- enough to end his outing.

The Phillies then turned to righty Chase Shugart with a two-run lead to start the sixth. He had entered 18 of his previous 24 appearances with the Phillies trailing. One came in a tie game in extra innings. The other five came with the Phils leading by at least four runs.

Neither Shugart nor the Phillies' lead made it through the inning. He allowed a game-tying two-run homer to pinch-hitter A.J. Ewing before later turning things over to Kyle Backhus with two on and only one out. An infield single plated the go-ahead run, which was also charged to Shugart.

After Schwarber had helped the Phillies reclaim a one-run lead, Orion Kerkering walked the bases loaded with one out in the eighth, only to escape unharmed. Overall, Phillies pitchers stranded 14 runners, including nine in scoring position.

“It was just traffic all day long,” interim manager Don Mattingly said.

Schwarber made sure those Houdini acts did not go for naught.

“He's amazing,” Mattingly said. “ … It's good he's on our side.”