By ALANIS THAMES
MIAMI (AP) — Kyle Schwarber hit a tiebreaking solo home run in the eighth, Cristopher Sánchez pitched eight sharp innings and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Miami Marlins 2-1 on Thursday night.
Sánchez (6-2) allowed five hits, one run and struck out four. Philadelphia took three of four in the series.
Schwarber put the Phillies ahead in the eighth when he connected on a 1-0 sinker from reliever Anthony Bender (1-5), crushing it 428 feet to right-center. Schwarber has 23 homers on the season, only trailing Shohei Ohtani (25) for most in the National League.
Philadelphia’s win, combined with the New York Mets’ 7-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves, left the Phillies and Mets tied for first place in the NL East heading into their weekend series at Citizens Bank Park. The Braves’ victory completed a series sweep that extended New York’s season-worst losing streak to six games.
The Mets led the division by 5 1/2 games on June 12, following a six-game winning streak.
Marlins right-hander Edward Cabrera had his best start of the year, limiting the Phillies to one run and two hits while striking out five in a season-high 6 1/3 innings. Cabrera received applause from Marlins fans when he walked off the mound in the seventh after throwing his 82nd pitch.
Nick Fortes opened scoring for the Marlins in the fifth when he singled in Dane Myers, who hit a leadoff double.
The Miami bullpen could not preserve the lead after Cabrera was lifted. Cade Gibson came in with one on and one out in the seventh and loaded the bases on a single, wild pitch and hit by pitch. Gibson managed to limit the damage to one run on Bryson Stott’s fielder’s choice grounder that scored Alec Bohm.
Stott had two hits for the Phillies after hitting a big three-run homer in Wednesday’s game.
Orion Kerkering finished for his second save of the season.
Key moment
Otto Kemp tried to race home from second on an infield single from Stott in the ninth but was thrown out at the plate.
Key stat
Sánchez lowered his ERA to 2.87.
Up next
RHP Zack Wheeler (7-2, 2.76 ERA) is on the mound for Philadelphia against the New York Mets on Friday night. RHP Janson Junk (1-0, 2.78) will go for Miami against Atlanta.
Charles Odum of the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
