Schwarber, Kepler go deep late to vault Phillies past Diamondbacks 3-2

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kyle Schwarber and Max Kepler hit solo homers in the seventh inning to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 3-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night.

Schwarber moved into a tie for the major league home run lead when he hit his 10th of the season off Arizona reliever Jose Castillo (0-1) to tie the game 2-2.

One out later, Kepler hit a home run into the right-field seats to put the Phillies ahead. It was his fourth homer this season and his first off a left-handed pitcher this year.

Schwarber also had an RBI double in the first inning to give Philadelphia an early lead.

Tanner Banks (1-0) earned the win in relief by pitching a 1-2-3 seventh. Jose Alvarado pitched the ninth for his sixth save for Philadelphia.

Jesús Luzardo pitched 5 1/3 innings and allowed two runs on nine hits for the Phillies, who have won five of their last six.

Arizona starter Merrill Kelly was having an efficient and effective start, throwing just 60 pitches through five innings and allowing one run on four hits, but he appeared to injure himself while warming up in the sixth inning and had to be removed from the game.

The Diamondbacks did not announce the nature of the injury before the conclusion of the game.

Luis Perdomo and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had RBI singles for Arizona, which has lost six of its last nine.

Key moment

Johan Rojas, who came into the game as a defensive replacement, made a lunging catch in center field and crashed hard into the fence, but hung on to help preserve the one-run lead in the ninth inning.

Key stat

Schwarber extended his major league leading on-base streak to 38 games with his first inning double.

Up Next

Arizona sends RHP Brandon Pfaadt (5-1, 2.78 ERA) to the mound to face Phillies RHP Aaron Nola (0-5, 5.40) on Saturday night.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb