PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber set the MLB single-season record with his 14th leadoff home run Tuesday night against the Tampa Bay Rays before being removed from the game in the fourth inning due to a hyperextended left elbow.
In the bottom of the first inning, Schwarber sent a 1-0 fastball from Rays starter Taj Bradley 437 feet to center field, moving ahead of Alfonso Soriano, who had 13 leadoff homers in 2003 with the New York Yankees, and giving the Phillies a 1-0 lead. Philadelphia went on to a 9-4 win.
Schwarber’s 35th homer of the season was the 45th leadoff homer of his career, with 32 coming since joining the Phillies in 2022.
“It’s a cool thing,” Schwarber said. “When you’re all said and done, whenever it’s over with, you can look back at all the cool things that happened in your career. It’ll probably be a little more enjoyable whenever I play my last game.”
Schwarber walked to lead off the bottom of the third inning and appeared to injure his elbow diving back into first base on a pickoff attempt by Tampa Bay catcher Logan Driscoll.
He was replaced at designated hitter by Buddy Kennedy in the fourth.
“As far as I’m concerned, he’s day-to-day,” manager Rob Thomson said. “I’m going to put him in (tomorrow’s) lineup tonight and then we’ll see where he’s at tomorrow.”
Schwarber said he received treatment during the game and there was a little bit of swelling. He said there’s nothing structurally wrong with his elbow, so if he can tolerate what it feels like to swing a bat, he’ll play in Wednesday's series finale as the Phillies go for a three-game sweep.
After enduring a 17-game homer drought and then hitting just one homer in 23 games, Schwarber has gone on a tear with seven home runs in his last eight games, including three in his first at-bat of a game.
The 31-year-old designated hitter leads the Phillies in home runs and RBIs (95). His career high in both categories came in 2023 with Philadelphia, when he hit 47 homers and knocked in 104 runs.
In his 11th major league season, Schwarber is hitting .251 and has an .869 OPS.
Schwarber has led off for the Phillies in all 133 games he has started this season. He missed 10 days with a groin strain in early July.
Schwarber, as a leadoff hitter, has been a hot button issue for most of his time in Philadelphia, but he seems to have silenced some critics this season with his production.
“Looking at the way it’s gone throughout my career with not having success there to start and still … to kind of figure it out … I feel really confident with the way that I want to take my at bats,” Schwarber said. “From seeing where I started to where I am now, I could definitely say I feel good about the adjustments I’ve made.”
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
Philadelphia Phillies' Kyle Schwarber (12) celebrates his solo home run with Bryce Harper during the first inning of a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)
Philadelphia Phillies' Kyle Schwarber, center, hits a solo home run off Tampa Bay Rays' Taj Bradley during the first inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Monday launched his family's cryptocurrency venture, World Liberty Financial, with an interview on the X social media platform in which he also gave his first public comments on the apparent assassination attempt against him a day earlier.
Trump did not discuss specifics about World Liberty Financial or how it would work, pivoting from questions about cryptocurrency to talking about artificial intelligence or other topics. Instead, he recounted his experience Sunday, saying he and a friend playing golf “heard shots being fired in the air, and I guess probably four or five.”
“I would have loved to have sank that last putt,” Trump said. He credited the Secret Service agent who spotted the barrel of a rifle and began firing toward it as well as law enforcement and a civilian who he said helped track down the suspect.
World Liberty Financial is expected to be a borrowing and lending service used to trade cryptocurrencies, which are forms of digital money that can be traded over the internet without relying on the global banking system. Exchanges often charge fees for withdrawals of Bitcoin and other currencies.
Other speakers after Trump, including his eldest son, Don Jr., talked about embracing cryptocurrency as an alternative to what they allege is a banking system tilted against conservatives.
Experts have said a presidential candidate launching a business venture in the midst of a campaign could create ethical conflicts.
“Taking a pro-crypto stance is not necessarily troubling; the troubling aspect is doing it while starting a way to personally benefit from it,” Jordan Libowitz, a spokesperson for the government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said earlier this month.
During his time in the White House, Trump said he was “not a fan” of cryptocurrency and tweeted in 2019, “Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity." However, during this election cycle, he has reversed himself and taken on a favorable view of cryptocurrencies.
He announced in May that his campaign would begin accepting donations in cryptocurrency as part of an effort to build what it calls a “crypto army” leading up to Election Day. He attended a bitcoin conference in Nashville this year, promising to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the planet” and create a bitcoin “strategic reserve” using the currency that the government currently holds.
Hilary Allen, a law professor at American University who has done research on cryptocurrencies, said she was skeptical of Trump's change of heart on crypto.
“I think it’s fair to say that that reversal has been motivated in part by financial interests,” she said.
Crypto enthusiasts welcomed the shift, viewing the launch as a positive sign for investors if Trump retakes the White House.
Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign has not offered policy proposals on how it would regulate digital assets like cryptocurrencies.
In an effort to appeal to crypto investors, a group of Democrats, including Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, participated in an online “Crypto 4 Harris” event in August.
Neither Harris nor members of her campaign staff attended the event.
Gomez Licon contributed from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump waves as he boards a plane at Harry Reid International Airport after a campaign trip, Saturday, Sept.14, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
