Cristopher Sanchez worked eight scoreless innings and Bryce Harper homered twice to spur the Philadelphia Phillies to a 9-1 win over the visiting Athletics on Tuesday.
Harper finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs and three runs scored for Philadelphia, which improved to 7-1 under interim manager Don Mattingly. Bryson Stott also homered for the Phillies, while Sanchez (3-2) took care of the rest, striking out 10 while yielding just three singles and a walk.
A’s starter Luis Severino (2-3) allowed one run and seven hits in five innings. The visitors finished with four hits — all singles — in losing for the third time in their last four games.
Sanchez retired the first eight batters that he faced before hitting Brett Harris with a pitch with two outs in the third. Jacob Wilson followed with a single, but the Philadelphia left-hander rebounded to retire Brent Rooker on a liner to center.
That set the stage for Harper’s eighth homer of the season in the bottom of the frame. The slugger fell behind 0-2 before launching a 2-2 sweeper over the wall in right-center for a 1-0 lead.
Sanchez needed only seven pitches to get through the fourth inning and just eight pitches to glide through the fifth.
The A’s had a runner at second with one out in the sixth, but Sanchez retired Rooker and Nick Kurtz to keep the visitors scoreless.
Colby Thomas and Zack Gelof opened the seventh inning with singles. However, Sanchez got the next three hitters, including strikeouts of Tyler Soderstrom and Darell Hernaiz — both on changeups — to maintain a 1-0 edge.
Sanchez struck out two more in a 1-2-3 eighth to end his night after 97 pitches.
Meanwhile, the Phillies’ offense turned the game into a rout with five runs in the seventh and three more in the eighth.
The highlight of the seventh inning was Stott’s two-run homer off the facade of the upper deck.
Harper’s eighth-inning blast over the center field wall put an exclamation point on the Phillies’ late eruption, making it 9-0.
Jhoan Duran (oblique), who had been out since April 11, pitched the ninth for Philadelphia. He struggled with his control and walked three batters, including one with the bases loaded.
Kurtz singled against Duran, extending his streak to 29 straight games reaching base.
–Field Level Media