Edmundo Sosa hits 2-run homer, Phillies beat Cardinals 4-2 for 7th consecutive home win

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Edmundo Sosa homered, Bryce Harper doubled and singled and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2 on Friday night for their seventh consecutive win at home.

Aaron Nola (7-2) pitched into the seventh inning for the Phillies, who entered tied with the Yankees for most wins in baseball. Philadelphia improved to 40-18.

Sosa put the Phillies up 3-0 with a 439-foot, two-run drive into Ashburn Alley in center field in the second inning against Miles Mikolas (3-6). It was the first ball to reach the walkway beyond the outfield seats since July 22, 2022, when Darick Hall hit a drive there.

Nola allowed a pair of home runs among his three hits while striking out six and walking two. Nolan Arenado and Brandon Crawford hit the homers for the Cardinals, who lost for just the fourth time in the last 16 games.

Philadelphia returned home after losing four of six on a road trip in Colorado and San Francisco. They were welcomed back to Philly by another sellout crowd, their largest of the season of 44,742, on a beautiful night for baseball. The Phillies improved to 23-8 overall at home and followed three-game sweeps over the Nationals and defending World Series champion Rangers by opening this three-game set against the Cardinals with a victory in a crisp 2 hours, 14 minutes.

Jeff Hoffman pitched a scoreless ninth for his fifth save in eight tries.

The Phillies also got some stellar defense from second baseman Bryson Stott, who leaped high to catch Iván Herrera’s liner in the fifth and then dove hard to his left to record the final out of the eighth on Alec Burleson’s grounder.

J.T. Realmuto went 0 for 4 with a pair of strikeouts to end his hitting streak at 17 games.

Cardinals rookie Masyn Winn’s 18-game hitting streak also ended. Winn entered in the seventh inning as a pinch-hitter and flew out to left.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: OF Lars Nootbaar (strained oblique) was placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to May 30, and INF José Fermín was recalled from Triple-A Memphis.

UP NEXT

Phillies LHP Ranger Suárez (9-1, 1.75) opposes St. Louis RHP Sonny Gray (7-2, 2.60) in the second contest of the three-game series on Saturday night.

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