Chapman, Bradley go deep, Blue Jays outslug Phillies 18-11
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Matt Chapman hit a three-run homer in the first inning, Jackie Bradley Jr. added a three-run shot in the ninth and the Toronto Blue Jays used 21 hits to rough up the Philadelphia Phillies 18-11 on Tuesday night in a matchup of teams fighting for wild-card berths.
The Blue Jays are in better shape, not only as winners of five of seven games, but with a firm grip on the top wild-card spot in the American League. The Phillies, who suffered a three-game weekend sweep at Atlanta, lost their fifth straight game.
Philadelphia entered with only a 2 1/2-game lead (plus the tiebreaker) over the Milwaukee Brewers for the final National League wild-card spot.
Kyle Schwarber hit his NL-best 40th homer of the season for the Phillies in the eighth, a three-run shot that made it 14-10. He became the first Phillies slugger to hit 40 since Ryan Howard did it from 2006-2009.