Max Kepler blasted the Phillies to a series victory Saturday over the Blue Jays.
Kepler clubbed a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning and the Phils picked up a 3-2 win at Citizens Bank Park.
They sit at 41-29 on the season and will look for a three-game sweep on Sunday afternoon. Zack Wheeler (6-2, 2.85 ERA) is set to face Jose Berrios (2-2, 3.38 ERA).
The Phillies’ pitching was stellar on a day their offense didn’t produce much. Cristopher Sanchez went seven innings and allowed two runs and five hits. He had zero walks, one hit by pitch and five strikeouts. Orion Kerkering and Matt Strahm threw scoreless innings out of the bullpen.
Sanchez didn’t mind facing Toronto’s lefty-less lineup at all.
“The first thing I did when I got here was laugh a little because I saw the lineup, all righties,” he said. “I like when they challenge me. Even more than that, we have a game plan and we stick to it. Whether it’s a righty hitter or a lefty hitter, we just have a plan and we have to execute it.”
Blue Jays leadoff man Bo Bichette struck out on Sanchez’s ninth pitch of the day, waving at a slider. Sanchez increased his season strikeout total to 88 Saturday over 79 and 2/3 innings. The Phillies have three pitchers in the National League’s top 10 for strikeouts per nine innings with Wheeler, Jesus Luzardo and Sanchez.
The Blue Jays opened the scoring vs. Sanchez in the second inning. Nick Castellanos’ leaping attempt to catch Ernie Clement’s fly ball to the right-field fence was unsuccessful. Myles Straw drove Clement in with a two-out line drive that glanced off the tip of Alec Bohm’s glove on its way to left field.
Despite a couple of long fly balls in the early innings, the Phillies failed to reach base against Toronto starter Bowden Francis until nine-hitter Brandon Marsh knocked an opposite-field single. Francis found a groove, locating well and mixing in his off-speed pitches effectively.
The righty’s command dramatically deserted him in the fourth inning.
The Phillies rallied with two outs through basic patience; Francis walked three batters and hit two. Otto Kemp’s HBP put the Phils up 2-1, Francis exited, and Brendon Little jogged in from the bullpen.
Little threw a 1-2 breaking ball to Marsh in the dirt and J.T. Realmuto made the aggressive decision to sprint home. The gamble didn’t pay off. Jays catcher Tyler Heineman recovered the ball in time to tag Realmuto out at the…