Max Kepler’s solo homer lifts Phillies past Blue Jays, extends winning streak to three
The Phillies offense only finished with four hits, but patience at the plate and Cristopher Sánchez holding the Blue Jays to two runs over seven innings resulted in a 3-2 win Saturday.
For the past few years, the Phillies have had a tradition of celebrating wins with a fog machine that resides in a vacant locker of their clubhouse.
After a particularly big win on Saturday, fog clouds still hung in the air about 20 minutes after the game concluded when the clubhouse opened to media, so thick it was difficult to see beyond a few feet.
“It was like a nightclub for a minute in here,” Max Kepler said.
Kepler’s eighth-inning home run was the main reason behind the fog, as it lifted the Phillies to a 3-2 win over Toronto. The Phillies secured the series victory and have won three straight games.
“It’s definitely a high,” Kepler said. “But I have to put it behind me and just be ready for tomorrow. I believe the work I do is what gets me in my right mind and in the right approach. And the highs and lows are going to come. It’s finding that balance, that even-keel wave, and hopefully riding it as long as you can.”
Kepler walked twice before stepping up to the plate against Blue Jays reliever Chad Green, and the first two pitches he saw were well outside the strike zone. Then, Green put a four-seam down the middle, and Kepler connected with an explosive swing that sent the ball over the right field wall.
“I’m just trying to take healthy hacks until I get to two strikes,” Kepler said. “In BP and in the cages, I work on just driving the ball. I wouldn’t say I’m working on launch or anything. I just try and hit the ball hard and square it up.”
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Kepler has had an up-and-down season overall. After some early flashes of power, he hit just .188 with a .650 OPS in the month of May. Over the past few games, though, he’s started to loft some balls hard in the air and has hit safely in three straight.
Kepler said he has leaned on teammates and Phillies staff members to help him through his slump.
“There’s a lot. I can go down the line, from coaches to players, to guys on the training staff, to guys in the kitchen,” Kepler said. “It’s a great org.”
Meanwhile, Phillies lefty Cristopher Sánchez had a tough task ahead of him starting against a fully right-handed Blue Jays lineup. But he held Toronto to two runs over seven innings, and his trademark changeup was extremely effective. He generated six whiffs with the pitch, and used it to secure three of his five total strikeouts.
“The first thing I did when I got here was laugh a little when I saw the lineup, all righties,” Sánchez said through a team interpreter. “I like when they challenge me, and I like to be challenged. Even more than that, we have a game plan, and we stick to it; if it’s a righty hitter or a lefty hitter, we just have a plan. We have to execute it.”
Sánchez didn’t allow a single walk, after struggling with free passes over his last few starts.
“The changeup had a lot of bottom to it,” said manager Rob Thomson. “Got a lot of swing-and-miss, lot of soft contact. He was phenomenal today.”
The Phillies offense finished with only four hits, but Kepler wasn’t the only one with plate discipline. Patience against Toronto starter Bowden Francis scored two runs for the Phillies in the fourth inning. They strung together three walks and two batters were hit by pitches.
A pair of singles from Brandon Marsh accounted for half the Phillies’ hits. The lineup made solid contact overall, racking up six hard-hit balls off the Blue Jays staff that just stayed in the ballpark for flyouts.
In the second inning, Nick Castellanos leapt for a ball against the right-field wall but was unable to corral it, and it fell for a double. The runner then came around to score on a single.
“Timing was off on his jump,” said Thomson. “He usually makes that play.”
In the fifth, Sánchez hit nine-hole hitter Tyler Heineman with a pitch, but then induced a groundout from Bo Bichette. The Toronto shortstop was initially called out on an inning-ending double play, but that ruling was overturned on review. Bichette then scored on a double from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to tie the game at 2.
Orion Kerkering tossed a 1-2-3 eighth inning against the top of the Toronto order. Matt Strahm pitched a clean ninth against three right-handers to pick up the save.
Thomson said he opted for Strahm in that spot instead of right-handed Jordan Romano to keep Toronto’s lefties on the bench.