Kepler powers Phillies past skidding Mets 11-3; magic number down to 7

Max Kepler homered and drove in five runs, Bryce Harper also went deep and the Philadelphia Phillies moved closer to repeating as NL East champions by routing the New York Mets 11-3 on Wednesday night. Cristopher Sánchez (13-5) allowed one run and four hits in six innings as the Phillies opened a 10-game lead over the second-place Mets with 16 to play. Philadelphia, which lowered its magic number to seven for clinching the division title, will try for a four-game sweep Thursday night.