Schwarber's 1,000th hit is 319th homer, topping McGwire for most to the mark

NEW YORK (AP) — Kyle Schwarber topped Mark McGwire for most home runs among a player's first 1,000 hits, hitting long ball No. 319.

“I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not,” the Philadelphia Phillies slugger said.

Ten days after lifting the National League to victory in the first All-Star Game swing-off, Schwarber keeps going deep.

He hit a pair of two-run homers in a 12-5 victory over the New York Yankees on Friday night. The first drive, his milestone hit, started the comeback from a 2-0 deficit. He even got the ball back after it was grabbed by a Phillies fan attending with his friends in Yankee Stadium's right-center field seats.

“I saw it on the video and then I see the dude tugging. I’m like: `Oh, they all got Philly stuff on.' That was cool." Schwarber said.

He met the trio after the game, gave an autographed ball to each and exchanged hugs. When he went to get a third ball to autograph, one of the three said he just wanted the potential free agent to re-sign with the Phillies.

“You show up to the field every single day trying to get a win at the end of the day and I think our fans kind of latch on to that, right?” Schwarber said. “It’s been fantastic these last 3 1/2 years, four years now, the support that we get from our fans and it means a lot to me that you know that they attach theirselves on our team.”

Schwarber tied it at 2 in the fifth against Will Warren when he hit a 413-foot drive on a first-pitch fastball.

After J.T. Realmuto’s three-run homer off Luke Weaver built a 6-3 lead in a four-run seventh and the Yankees closed within a run in the bottom half, Schwarber sent an Ian Hamilton fastball 380 feet into the right-field seats.

Schwarber reached 1,000 hits with eight more homers than McGwire. Schwarber has 36 homers this year, three shy of major league leader Cal Raleigh, and six homers in seven games since he was voted All-Star MVP. He has 33 multi-homer games.

“I don’t know where we’d be without him,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “Comes up with big hit after big hit after big hit. It's just — it's amazing.”

Schwarber is 32 and eligible for free agency this fall after completing a $79 million, four-year contract. He homered on all three of his swings in the All-Star Game tiebreaker, and when the second half began Phillies managing partner John Middleton proclaimed: “We love him. We want to keep him."

“He’s been an incredible force all season long,” Realmuto said. “What he’s meant to his team, his offense, it’s hard to put in words.”

A World Series champion for the 2016 Chicago Cubs, Schwarber has reached 35 homers in all four seasons with the Phillies. He's batting .255 with 82 RBIs and a .960 OPS.

He also has almost as many home runs as singles (46).

Schwarber had not been aware he topped McGwire for most homers among 1,000 hits.

“I had no clue. I even know it was my 1,000th, to be honest with you,” he said.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Philadelphia Phillies' Kyle Schwarber gestures as he runs the bases after hitting a two-run home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees Friday, July 25, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Yankees pitcher Ian Hamilton and catcher Austin Wells watch a ball hit by Philadelphia Phillies' Kyle Schwarber for a two-run home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game Friday, July 25, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Philadelphia Phillies' Kyle Schwarber hits a two-run home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees Friday, July 25, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Philadelphia Phillies' Kyle Schwarber hits a two-run home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees Friday, July 25, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Philadelphia Phillies' Kyle Schwarber celebrates as he runs for a single during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees Friday, July 25, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Torrential rains and flooding have killed more than 100 people in South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, and authorities warned Friday that more severe weather was expected across several countries in southern Africa.

South Africa has reported at least 19 deaths in two of its northern provinces following heavy rains that began last month and led to severe flooding.

Tourists and staff members were evacuated this week by helicopter from flooded camps to other areas in the renowned Kruger National Park, which is closed to visitors while parts of it are inaccessible because of washed out roads and bridges, South Africa's national parks agency said.

In neighboring Mozambique, the Institute for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction said 103 people had died in an unusually severe rainy season since late last year. Those deaths were from various causes including electrocution from lightning strikes, drowning in floods, infrastructure collapse caused by the severe weather and cholera, the institute said.

The worst flooding in Mozambique has been in the central and southern regions, where more than 200,000 people have been affected, thousands of homes have been damaged, while tens of thousands face evacuation, the World Food Program said.

Zimbabwe’s disaster management agency said that 70 people have died and more than 1,000 homes have been destroyed in heavy rains since the beginning of the year, while infrastructure including schools, roads and bridges collapsed.

Flooding has also hit the island nation of Madagascar off the coast of Africa as well as Malawi and Zambia. Authorities in Madagascar said 11 people died in floods since late November.

The United States' Famine Early Warning System said flooding was reported or expected in at least seven southern African nations, possibly due to the presence of the La Nina weather phenomenon that can bring heavy rains to parts of southeastern Africa.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa visited flood-stricken areas in the northern Limpopo province on Thursday and said that region had received around 400 millimeters (more than 15 inches) of rain in less than a week. He said that in one district he visited “there are 36 houses that have just been wiped away from the face of the Earth. Everything is gone ... the roofs, the walls, the fences, everything.”

The flooding occurred in the Limpopo and Mpumalanaga provinces in the north, and the South African Weather Service issued a red-level 10 alert for parts of the country for Friday, warning of more heavy rain and flooding that poses a threat to lives and could cause widespread infrastructure damage.

The huge Kruger wildlife park, which covers some 22,000 square kilometers (7,722 square miles) across the Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces, has been impacted by severe flooding and around 600 tourists and staff members have been evacuated from camps to high-lying areas in the park, Kruger National Park spokesperson Reynold Thakhuli said.

He couldn't immediately say how many people there were in the park, which has been closed to visitors after several rivers burst their banks and flooded camps, restaurants and other areas. The parks agency said precautions were being taken and no deaths or injuries had been reported at Kruger.

The South African army sent helicopters to rescue other people trapped on the roofs of their houses or in trees in northern parts of the country, it said. An army helicopter also rescued border post officers and police officers stranded at a flooded checkpoint on the South Africa-Zimbabwe border.

Southern Africa has experienced a series of extreme weather events in recent years, including devastating cyclones and a scorching drought that caused a food crisis in parts of a region that often suffers food shortages.

The World Food Program said more than 70,000 hectares (about 173,000 acres) of crops in Mozambique, including staples such as rice and corn, have been waterlogged in the current flooding, worsening food insecurity for thousands of small-scale farmers who rely on their harvests for food.

Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa. AP writers Charles Mangwiro in Maputo, Mozambique, and Farai Mutsaka in Harare, Zimbabwe, contributed to this report.

AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

This image made from video shows the scene after flooding in Tete Province, Mozambique, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo)

This image made from video shows the scene after flooding in Tete Province, Mozambique, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo)

This image made from video shows the scene after flooding in Tete Province, Mozambique, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo)