Kyle Schwarber has 21st 4-homer game in MLB, drives in Phillies-record 9 runs

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia slugger Kyle Schwarber hit four home runs Thursday night against Atlanta to become the 21st major leaguer and fourth Phillies player to accomplish the feat.

Schwarber was 4 for 6 with a Phillies-record nine RBIs in the 19-4 victory. He took the outright National League homer lead with a career-high 49 and moved within one of Seattle's Cal Raleigh for the major league lead. Schwarber leads the majors with a career-high 119 RBIs.

“It’s pretty cool,” Schwarber said. “It was a fun night, great atmosphere. Wouldn’t want to do it with a better group of guys than we have here.”

Mike Schmidt was the last Philadelphia player to hit four homers in a game, doing at the Chicago Cubs in April 1976. Schwarber had the third four-homer game of the season, following Eugenio Suárez and Nick Kurtz.

“It just cooperated,” Schwarber said. “You can do everything right and get out, and you can do everything wrong and get a hit. Got some pitches and put some good swings on it.”

The Philadelphia star started the power surge with a solo shot in the first off Cal Quantrill, sending a 2-1, curveball into the seats in right field. Schwarber hit a flyout to center in the second.

After Quantrill was lifted with one out and two runners on base in the fourth, Schwarber greeted lefty Austin Cox by sending a 3-2 curveball over the wall in right for his fourth multi-homer game of the season.

With “M-V-P! M-V-P!” chants ringing down from Phillies fans in the fifth, Schwarber launched a three-run, opposite-field drive off Cox to put Philadelphia ahead 15-3. In the seventh, Schwarber hit a three-run shot to right off Wander Suero to make it 18-4.

Schwarber popped out in the eighth.

“I stink against position players,” Schwarber joked. “All you’re trying to do is get a good pitch. I got the pitch. Just popped it up.”

The 32-year-old Schwarber has 333 homers in 11 seasons in the majors with the Cubs and the Phillies. His previous career high was 47 in 2023 for Philadelphia.

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Philadelphia Phillies' Kyle Schwarber, right, and Harrison Bader celebrate after Schwarber's three-run home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia Phillies' Kyle Schwarber rounds the bases after hitting a three-run home run against Atlanta Braves pitcher Austin Cox during the fifth inning of a baseball game Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia Phillies' Kyle Schwarber reacts after hitting a two-run home run against Atlanta Braves pitcher Austin Cox during the fourth inning of a baseball game Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia Phillies' Kyle Schwarber reacts after hitting a home run against Atlanta Braves pitcher Cal Quantrill during the first inning of a baseball game Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia Phillies' Kyle Schwarber watches after hitting a two-run home run against Atlanta Braves pitcher Austin Cox during the fourth inning of a baseball game Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia Phillies' Kyle Schwarber hits a home run against Atlanta Braves pitcher Cal Quantrill during the first inning of a baseball game Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media that the U.S. Coast Guard had boarded the Motor Tanker Veronica early Thursday. She said the ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s "established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.”

U.S. Southern Command said Marines and sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to take part in the operation alongside a Coast Guard tactical team, which Noem said conducted the boarding as in previous raids. The military said the ship was seized “without incident.”

Noem posted a brief video that appeared to show part of the ship’s capture. The black-and-white footage showed helicopters hovering over the deck of a merchant vessel while armed troops dropped down on the deck by rope.

The Veronica is the sixth sanctioned tanker seized by U.S. forces as part of the effort by Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products and the fourth since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid almost two weeks ago.

The Veronica last transmitted its location on Jan. 3 as being at anchor off the coast of Aruba, just north of Venezuela’s main oil terminal. According to the data it transmitted at the time, it was partially filled with crude.

The ship is currently listed as flying the flag of Guyana and is considered part of the shadow fleet that moves cargoes of oil in violation of U.S. sanctions.

According to its registration data, the ship also has been known as the Galileo, owned and managed by a company in Russia. In addition, a tanker with the same registration number previously sailed under the name Pegas and was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for moving cargoes of illicit Russian oil.

As with prior posts about such raids, Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law. Noem argued that the multiple captures show that “there is no outrunning or escaping American justice.”

However, other officials in Trump's Republican administration have made clear that they see the actions as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.

Trump met with executives from oil companies last week to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution. His administration has said it expects to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.

This story has been corrected to show the Veronica is the fourth, not the third, tanker seized by U.S. forces since Maduro's capture.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill, File)