Buehler goes 5 innings in debut as Phillies close in on NL East title

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Walker Buehler pitched five strong innings in his Philadelphia debut, Bryce Harper and Bryson Stott homered, and the Phillies won their fifth straight, 8-2 over the Kansas City Royals on Friday night.

Buehler allowed one run on five hits with one walk and three strikeouts for the NL East-leading Phillies, who are closing in on clinching the division.

A veteran of seven mostly successful but injury-marred seasons with the Dodgers before joining Boston this season, Buehler (8-7) was released by the Red Sox on Aug. 29 and signed with the Phillies two days later.

On Friday, he earned his first win since Aug. 8 for Boston at San Diego. He allowed a run in the first when Bobby Witt Jr. singled, stole second and scored on a two-out single by Maikel Garcia.

The Phillies tied it in the second against Michael Lorenzen on a sacrifice fly by Rafael Marchan. They broke it open over the next two innings.

In the third, Harper hit a two-run homer, and Brandon Marsh tripled and scored on a single by Otto Kemp for a 4-1 lead. In the fourth, Marchan, Harrison Bader and Kyle Schwarber hit consecutive doubles to push the advantage to 6-1.

Stott added a two-run shot in the seventh.

Lorenzen (5-11) went three-plus innings, allowing six earned runs on 10 hits.

Key moment

Schwarber led off the third with a walk before Harper drilled one into the left-field seats for his 26th homer, giving the Phillies the lead for good.

Key stat

Seldom-used backup catcher Marchan, who entered with a .178 batting average, had two hits and scored a run after his sacrifice fly in the second.

Up next

Royals right-hander Ryan Bergert (2-2, 3.48 ERA) opposes the Phillies’ Taijuan Walker (4-8, 4.03) as the series continues on Saturday.

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