The Chicago Cubs made some progress in the standings with a pair of victories over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday, but they also made some history in sweeping the doubleheader.
For starters, the team set a new record for rookie home runs in a season as they hit their 58th, 59th and 60th home runs of the season in the second game of the doubleheader. Kyle Schwarber hit the first two home runs to set the record, and Kris Bryant tacked on another dinger for good measure as the Cubs broke the record of the 1966 team that clubbed 58 long balls.
Bryant also set a record of his own on Friday night, as he knocked in four runs and set the Cubs’ all-time record for RBI’s in a season by a rookie. He currently sits at 90, which is four more than the previous record that was held by Geovany Soto and Billy Williams.
To cap off a record-setting day for the Cubs, Schwarber’s two home runs gave him 15 on the season in just 51 games played. That is the best performance through 51 games for a Cubs rookie since the 1914 season, according to Stats Inc.
For the season, Schwarber also had 41 RBI and has a slash line of .267/.362/.570, which are all astonishing numbers for a player with fewer than 200 plate appearances under his belt at the big league level.
The Cubs’ rookies not only powered their way into the record books on Friday, but they also pushed themselves closer to a playoff berth. The team’s magic number for a wild card spot is now 13, and they are just two games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates for the top wild card berth and six games behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central race.