Kyle Schwarber stays on heater, clubs 2 HRs in Phillies win - ESPN

PITTSBURGH — Kyle Schwarber can't really explain why he's on a tear right now.

«It's a great question,» Schwarber said.

One the Philadelphia Phillies slugger isn't particularly interested in answering. All he knows is that he has found a little something. Even more importantly, so has his team.

So even on a night when the Phillies designated hitter smashed a pair of two-run homers that boosted his season total to a major-league-leading 20 and drew a bases-loaded walk during a ninth-inning rally, Schwarber was quick to deflect attention to all that was happening around him during an 11-9, 10-inning victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night.

Schwarber reached 20 homers on the earliest date in MLB history, according to Stats Perform, bettering Arizona's Luis Gonzalez, who hit his 20th on May 17, 2001. The Phillies slugger also tied a club mark with 20 homers in the team's first 45 games, first set by Cy Williams in 1923.

Bryce Harper, batting behind him, had four hits, including a tying single after Pirates closer Gregory Soto walked Schwarber on four pitches to pull the Phillies within two. Backup catcher Rafael Marchan delivered a two-run single in the 10th. Orion Kerkering picked up his first save of the season and just the fifth of his career.

«There's so much good that went on today that we were able to respond and fight back,» Schwarber said. «That's a really positive thing for us.»

The win pushed Philadelphia's record to 13-4 since Don Mattingly replaced Rob Thomson as manager and brought the Phillies to within a game of .500 (22-23). The fact that surge has come in lockstep with Schwarber going off is not a coincidence.

«It's pretty amazing,» Mattingly said. «He's a different cat from the standpoint of how