The Philadelphia Phillies routed the Seattle Mariners 11-2 on Wednesday afternoon, finishing off a three-game sweep of the American League contenders. Philadelp

A batch of notes and observations in 5 Phillies thoughts ahead of a weekend division set:

Shohei Ohtani’s struggling performance against the Rockies has raised questions about his MVP race among MLB fans.

Kyle Schwarber powers a two-run home run to right field for his 45th home run of the season, extending the Phillies' lead to 11-2

Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber hits 44th home run of the season, passing Shohei Ohtani for NL lead vs. the Seattle Mariners.

The homer came in the Phillies' 126th game of the season. That's the same number of games it took Howard to get to 44 homers in 2006, per MLB Network's Sarah Langs. It ties the franchise record. Mike Schmidt's best total through 126 games was 39 in 1979.

That’s a league-leading 105 RBI with 35 games remaining. Schwarber hit 104 twice previously, in 2024 and 2023 with the Phillies. He drove in 94 runs during his first season here, which eclipsed the previous high of 92 RBI from the 2019 Chicago Cubs season.

Kyle Schwarber hits a fly ball to center field deep enough to plate Trea Turner from third base, tying the game up for the Phillies with a score of 1-0