Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his then-league-leading 20th home run on June 12, becoming the first player to break the 20-HR barrier. Entering that same day, Kyle Schwarber had nine round-trippers. He wasn't in the home run race, nor was he anywhere near the top of the leaderboards.
But June 12 was the day that things changed. Schwarbs cranked one against the Giants that day. He hit two against the Giants the next day. And he unleashed against the Pirates the day after that. Four home runs in three days... could this be the start of something big? Not quite, it appeared — he then went homer-less, as well as extra-base-hit-less in the next four games.
His power streak, as it turned out, was far from over. You thing four home runs in three games is special? How about two home runs on June 19 against the Mets, and then a hat trick of dingers the very next day? And in the three games that followed? Three more home runs. For all you non-math people out there, that is — count 'em — eight home runs in five games. And now, though Guerrero has increased his HR count to 24, Schwarber is right behind him, in fourth place, with 21.
As noted by the MLB Stats Twitter account, eight home runs is tied for the second most in a five-game span, trailing only Shawn Green and his torrid nine-HR stretch in 2002. The other players with eight in a five-game span, according to Stathead, make up an impressive group of sluggers:
— Josh Hamilton (5/8/12 to 5/12/12) and (5/7/12 to 5/11/12)
— Shawn Green (5/23/02 to 5/27/02)
— Barry Bonds (5/18/01 to 5/22/01) and (5/17/01 to 5/21/01)
— Manny Ramirez (9/15/98 to 9/19/98)
— Frank Howard (5/14/68 to 5/18/68) and (5/12/68 to 5/17/68)
— Ralph Kiner (9/10/47 to 9/13/47) and (9/8/47 to 9/12/47)
It's almost become not an "if," but a "when" Schwarber will hit a home run, and the Marlins' Pablo Lopez will have a tall order in preventing another Schwarber bomb when he takes the mound on Friday.
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