Schwarber's 3-run homer paces Phillies to 4th straight win, 7-2 over Nationals

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kyle Schwarber homered in the first inning for the second consecutive game, Max Kepler and J.T. Realmuto also went deep, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Washington Nationals 7-2 on Wednesday night.

Schwarber launched a three-run homer off Washington starter Jake Irvin. It was his ninth of the season, and it extended his league-leading on-base streak to 36 games, dating to last season.

Kepler hit his third homer of the season in the sixth inning against Irvin and Realmuto added a homer off Eduardo Salazar in the eighth. Bryson Stott and Nick Castellanos each had RBI singles for Philadelphia, which has won four straight.

Cristopher Sanchez (3-1) allowed two runs in five innings in his first appearance since leaving a start after just two innings last Tuesday at the New York Mets with forearm tightness.

Nathaniel Lowe had an RBI double for the Nationals. Irvin (2-1) allowed six runs on eight hits in six innings.

Before the game, the Nationals cut their batting practice short when a member of their staff experienced a medical incident on the field. The person was attended to by the medical staff of both teams and paramedics at the ballpark before being taken away on a stretcher.

The Nationals did not identify the individual, nor did they provide an update prior to the conclusion of the game.

Key moment

After yielding an RBI double to Lowe in his previous plate appearance, Sanchez struck him out with two men on base in the fifth inning to conclude his outing.

Key stat

Washington OF Dylan Crews has struck out 31 times this season, 13 of them in five games against the Phillies. He struck out three times on Wednesday.

Up next

RHP Brad Lord (0-3, 4.67 ERA) will pitch for the Nationals against RHP Taijuan Walker (1-2, 2.78) of the Phillies as the series concludes on Thursday.

___

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