Max Kepler homered among his three hits and Jesus Luzardo tossed six strong innings, fueling the visiting Philadelphia Phillies to a 10-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday.
Kepler joined Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber in driving in a pair of runs for the Phillies, who rebounded after being shut out in the series opener to snap a five-game losing streak.
Harper’s two-run double to the base of the wall in center field highlighted Philadelphia’s six-run fourth inning, while Schwarber’s ground-rule double capped a three-run sixth.
Bryson Stott, who collected two hits and two runs, joined Kepler, Alec Bohm and Trea Turner with an RBI single for the Phillies.
The offense was more than enough for Luzardo (3-0), who has paid immediate dividends in his first season with Philadelphia. He allowed two unearned runs on three hits with five strikeouts.
Chicago’s Seiya Suzuki drove in three runs and Jon Berti had three of his team’s eight hits. Ian Happ walked three times and scored on Justin Turner’s sacrifice fly for the Cubs, who saw their three-game winning streak come to a halt.
The Phillies’ first five batters reached base in the fourth inning, with Kepler’s blooper and Bohm’s RBI single off Ben Brown (2-2) driving in the first two runs of the game. Johan Rojas’ sacrifice fly plated J.T. Realmuto and Stott’s single scored Kepler before Harper’s blast to the base of the center-field wall brought home the final two runs of the inning.
Brown yielded six runs on nine hits in 3 2/3 innings.
Trea Turner’s error with two outs in the fifth extended the inning for Chicago. Berti’s single accounted for his team’s first hit and the Cubs loaded the bases before Suzuki slapped a single to left field to plate a pair of runs.
Philadelphia had a swift response, however.
Rojas walked, advanced to second on a walk and trotted home on Trea Turner’s RBI single to center field. Schwarber’s ground-rule double brought home both Stott and Trea Turner to stake the Phillies to a 9-2 lead.
Kepler deposited a first-pitch cutter from Ethan Roberts over the wall in right field in the seventh inning for his second homer of the season.
