MIAMI (AP) — J.T. Realmuto homered twice against his former team, Bryce Harper also went deep and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Miami Marlins 6-1 on Wednesday night.
Philadelphia holds the second NL wild-card spot by 2 1/2 games after third-place San Diego lost earlier at Seattle.
Kyle Gibson (10-6) threw six innings of one-run ball. The right-hander gave up six hits, struck out seven and reached double-digit victories in a season for the seventh time in his career.
Harper, the reigning NL MVP, hit his 100th homer with the Phillies.
For the second straight night, the Phillies spotted Miami a run before they erased the deficit with homers. Harper and Realmuto hit consecutive shots in the sixth against starter Edward Cabrera.
Harper’s drive over the wall in left-center field tied it 1-all, and Realmuto’s go-ahead homer to center chased Cabrera.
Jean Segura’s RBI double off Marlins reliever Richard Bleier in the sixth made it 3-1.
Realmuto connected again in the seventh with a three-run shot that padded Philadelphia’s lead.
The Phillies won their fifth consecutive series over Miami and will seek a second straight road sweep against their NL East opponent Thursday night. The Marlins are 15-37 since getting swept at home by the Phillies from July 15-17.
Cabrera (5-3) limited Philadelphia to one hit until the homers by Harper and Realmuto. He walked three, struck out four and hit two batters with pitches in 5 1/3 innings.
JJ Bleday gave the Marlins an early lead with his two-out RBI single in the first. Bleday’s line drive to right scored Brian Anderson from second. Trail runner Nick Fortes got caught between second and third but was tagged out after Anderson crossed the plate.
NEW ROLE
A fixture in the Phillies' rotation for seven seasons, Zach Eflin relieved and threw a perfect eighth. Eflin had been sidelined since June 26 because of a right knee injury and was activated from the injured list Monday.
ROSTER MOVE
The Phillies claimed RHP Tayler Scott off waivers from San Diego and optioned him to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. LHP Kent Emmanuel was recalled from Lehigh Valley and placed on the 60-day injured list because of a left shoulder strain.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Phillies: Philadelphia slugger Rhys Hoskins left the game and underwent X-rays after he was hit on the right hand by a changeup from Cabrera in the third. Hoskins ran the bases but was removed in the bottom half. ... OF Nick Castellanos (right oblique strain) didn’t take batting practice but worked on defensive drills.
Marlins: INF Joey Wendle (soreness) sat out for the second consecutive game.
UP NEXT
Phillies RHP Noah Syndergaard (9-9, 4.09 ERA) pitches Thursday night against Pablo López (8-10, 4.04).
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
