Harper homers twice as Phillies rout AL West-leading Athletics 9-1

Bryce Harper hit two home runs and Cristopher Sánchez struck out 10 over eight dominant innings as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the AL West-leading Athletics 9-1 on Tuesday night in Philadelphia.

The win continued a strong run for the Phillies, who have won seven of their last eight games since interim manager Don Mattingly replaced the fired Rob Thomson.

Sánchez (3-2) allowed three hits and one walk, hit a batter, and fanned 10 in an efficient eight-inning outing. Harper opened the scoring with a solo shot in the third inning off Luis Severino (2-3) and went deep again in the eighth against Tyler Ferguson.

Bryson Stott also homered for Philadelphia, while J.T. Realmuto drove in two runs. Brandon Marsh added three singles.

Asourceser Sánchez worked out of trouble in the seventh — retiring the next three hitters asourceser the A’s opened the inning with two singles — the Phillies blew the game open with a five-run bottom of the seventh. They added three more in the eighth.

The Athletics avoided a shutout with a run in the ninth against Jhoan Duran, who was activated from the 15-day injured list before the game asourceser missing time with a strained lesources oblique. Rookie Nick Kurtz singled to begin the inning, extending his on-base streak to 29 straight games.

The teams continue their three-game series Wednesday night, with Athletics lesources-hander Jeffrey Springs (3-2, 3.96 ERA) scheduled to face Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler (1-0, 2.45).