Cristopher Sanchez shrugged off an early homer to pitch six strong innings, Alec Bohm and Kyle Schwarber homered and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-2 on Friday night.

Sanchez (2-3) and three relievers retired the final 21 St. Louis hitters. Nine of those outs came on strikeouts.

Garrett Stubbs added an RBI double for the Phillies (70-58), who remained atop the National League wild-card standings while gaining ground on second-place Chicago – increasing that margin to three games.

Paul Goldschmidt hit his 21st homer of the season in the first inning for St. Louis’ only runs of the night.

After surrendering the two-run homer to Goldschmidt in the first inning, Sanchez settled into a consistent groove. After Tyler O’Neill’s leadoff double in the third inning, Sanchez finished his night by retiring 12 straight. Jose Alvarado, Andrew Bellatti and Jeff Hoffman got the final nine outs in order.

UP NEXT

RHP Zack Wheeler (9-6, 3.70) was set to start for the Phillies on Saturday against RHP Dakota Hudson (5-0, 3.95).