(AUDACY) Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his then-MLB-leading 20th home run on June 12, becoming the first player to break that barrier this season. Entering that same day, Nationals outfielder Kyle Schwarber had nine homers. 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 it began to change for Schwarber, who blasted a homer against the Giants that day. He then hit two against the Giants the next day. And he unleashed one more against the Pirates the day after that to give him four homers in three days.
Schwarber didn't homer for the next four games, but his power streak was far from over. You think four home runs in three games was special? Schwarber hit two against the Mets last Saturday, then three more against them Sunday. In the three games that followed, Schwarber hit another three homers. That's -- count 'em -- eight home runs in five games. And now Schwarber is fourth in the home run race with 21, trailing Guerrero's leading total of 24.
As noted by the MLB Stats Twitter account, eight home runs is tied for the second -most ever in a five-game span, trailing only Shawn Green and his torrid nine-homer 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 (2012)
— Shawn Green (2002)
— Barry Bonds (2001)
— Manny Ramirez (1998)
— Frank Howard (1968)
— Ralph Kiner (1947)
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