Max Kepler's five-RBI night send Phillies to rout of Mets

Max Kepler homered, had three hits and drove in a season-high five runs in support of Cristopher Sanchez as the Philadelphia Phillies rolled over the visiting New York Mets 11-3 on Wednesday.

Brandon Marsh added three hits and two RBIs for Philadelphia, while Harrison Bader and J.T. Realmuto each notched two hits and scored twice. Bryce Harper’s solo homer added to a big night for the Phillies, who will go for a four-game sweep Thursday.

Sanchez (13-5) gave up one run and four hits over six innings with a walk and six strikeouts.

Mets starter Clay Holmes (11-8) surrendered four runs and six hits over four-plus frames, walking three and striking out five. Juan Soto was the offensive standout for New York, going 3-for-5 with a homer and a double.

With the win, the Phillies (86-60) moved 10 games ahead of the Mets in the National League East. They also crawled within 2 1/2 games of the Milwaukee Brewers (89-58) for the top seed in the NL playoffs.

Meanwhile, New York (76-70) sits just two games ahead of the San Francisco Giants (74-72) for the league’s third and final wild-card spot. The first four Phillies who came to the plate against Holmes all reached base, capped by Realmuto’s RBI single. With the bases still loaded one out later, Holmes hit Kepler with a pitch to make it 2-0.

Soto doubled and scored on a hit by Starling Marte in the fourth inning, but Philadelphia responded with two more runs in the fifth. Marsh’s RBI double ended Holmes’ night before Gregory Soto came on and gave up a run-scoring single to Kepler.

Kepler’s two-run single highlighted a four-run sixth as the hosts extended their lead to 8-1.

Harper and Soto exchanged solo home runs late in the game before Kepler blasted one of his own in the eighth, his 16th. Harper reached the 25-homer milestone for the seventh time in his career. Soto socked his 39th, approaching the career-high 41 he hit last year.

‘It means a lot, you know, for my legacy and my career. You know, this is the biggest fight in boxing in probably a decade.”