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 - on Wednesday night Cristopher S nchez - allowed one run and four hits in six innings as the Phillies opened a -game lead over the second-place Mets with 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 th homer and had three hits for the skidding Mets - who lost their fifth straight They remained two games ahead of San Francisco for the final National League wild card Kepler went for and matched his RBI total for the entire month of July in one night It was the largest part RBIs he s had in one competition since Harper connected off reliever Ryne Stanek for his th homer Brandon Marsh who also had three hits knocked in two runs and scored two more Clay Holmes - 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 event 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 against lefties Marsh tagged Holmes for an RBI double that gave the Phillies a - lead Key stat With two more hits Harrison Bader registered his eighth multihit meeting since joining the Phillies all in his last games Up next Mets LHP David Peterson - ERA faces LHP Jes s Luzardo - on Thursday night AP MLB https apnews com hub MLB Source