Kepler powers Phillies past skidding Mets 11-3; magic number down to 7

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Max Kepler homered and drove in five runs, Bryce Harper also went deep and the Philadelphia Phillies moved closer to repeating as NL East champions by routing the New York Mets 11-3 on Wednesday night.

Cristopher Sánchez (13-5) allowed one run and four hits in six innings as the Phillies opened a 10-game lead over the second-place Mets with 16 to play. Philadelphia, which lowered its magic number to seven for clinching the division title, will try for a four-game sweep Thursday night.

Juan Soto launched his 39th homer and had three hits for the skidding Mets (76-70), who lost their fifth straight. They are two games ahead of Cincinnati and San Francisco for the final National League wild card.

Kepler went 3 for 4 and matched his RBI total for the entire month of July in one night. It was the most RBIs he's had in one game since 2016.

Harper connected off reliever Ryne Stanek for his 25th homer. Brandon Marsh, who also had three hits, knocked in two runs and scored two more.

Clay Holmes (11-8) was pulled after facing two batters in the fifth. He was charged with four runs and six hits with three walks and two hit batters.

New York pitchers plunked four Phillies in the game.

Key moment

With left-hander Gregory Soto ready in the bullpen, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza left Holmes in to face Marsh in the fifth even though he was hitting .194 against lefties. Marsh tagged Holmes for an RBI double that gave the Phillies a 3-1 lead.

Key stat

With two more hits, Harrison Bader registered his eighth multihit game since joining the Phillies — all in his last 20 games.

Up next

Mets LHP David Peterson (9-5, 3.72 ERA) faces LHP Jesus Luzardo (13-6, 4.01) on Thursday night.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB