Phillies' Kyle Schwarber sets major league record with 14th leadoff homer, but leaves game with elbow pain

PHILADELPHIA — Kyle Schwarber did it again.

And this time, he made history.

Schwarber banged his 14th leadoff homer of the season Tuesday night for the Phillies, setting a single-season major league record. He surpassed Alfonso Soriano, who hit 13 leadoff homers for the Yankees in 2003.

But Schwarber exited in the fourth inning with left elbow discomfort, according to an update provided by the team. The slugging designated hitter was undergoing further evaluation, the Phillies said, after Buddy Kennedy pinch-hit for him.

It’s unclear how Schwarber was injured, although it likely occurred in the third inning when he slid back into first base on a pickoff attempt by Rays catcher Logan Driscoll.

Schwarber has been the Phillies’ hottest hitter for the past week, with seven homers in the last eight games. He would join J.T. Realmuto (bruised left knee), Alec Bohm (strained left hand), and Austin Hays (kidney infection) among Phillies regulars who are banged up.

Bohm and Hays are on the injured list; Realmuto could return to the lineup over the weekend.

Schwarber hit the second pitch of the game — a 96-mph fastball from Rays righty Taj Bradley — over the center-field fence for the historic homer.

“I’ve always said that those things will be cooler when I’m done [playing],” Schwarber said last week after tying Soriano’s mark. “Right now I’m just trying to win baseball games. Winning a baseball game is cooler than that.”

Schwarber has 45 career leadoff homers, ninth-most in major league history and third among active players behind George Springer and Mookie Betts. Jimmy Rollins holds the Phillies’ record with 46 leadoff homers. Thirty-two of Schwarber’s leadoff shots have come in his three seasons with the Phillies.