Bryce Harper homers, drives in 5 runs and helps turn triple play in Phillies' 8-1 win over Tigers

DETROIT (AP) Bryce Harper homered, doubled twice, drove in five runs and helped turn a triple play as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Detroit Tigers 8-1 on Monday night.

Alec Bohm had four hits, including a homer, and was also involved in the triple play for the big league-best Phillies (52-26).

Philadelphia took a 4-0 lead before Detroit starter Casey Mize recorded an out. Kyle Schwarber started the game with a routine grounder to short, but Zach McKinstry misplayed it. Trea Turner followed with a flared double to right and Harper hit a two-run double into the right-center gap.

Bohm made it 4-0 with a home run to left and Nick Castellanos singled before Mize recovered to retire the next three hitters.

“With (Aaron) Nola on the mound tonight, we knew we just needed to get him something early,” Harper said. ”That's why it was huge to jump on Mize in the first inning."

Nola (8-4) won the 99th game of his career, allowing one run on six hits in seven innings and starting the third-inning triple play. Michael Mercado pitched a perfect eighth in his MLB debut.

Mize (1-6) allowed four runs, three earned on nine hits, in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out a career-high 10 batters.

“It's obviously a mixed bag for him,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “He did a lot of good things, especially the second time through the order, but he also had a tough time getting into the game.”

The Phillies have won three straight by a combined score of 24-3. Detroit was held to fewer than three runs for the eighth time in 10 games.

Detroit's best chance at a rally came in the third, when singles by McKinstry and Carson Kelly put runners on the corners with no one out. But Matt Vierling hit a broken-bat liner back to Nola, who tossed to Harper at first for a double play.

Catcher Garrett Stubbs, noticing McKinstry had never stopped running from third, signaled to Harper to throw to third, where Bohm stepped on the bag to finish the 1-3-5 triple play.

“I don't know if it was the bat breaking, but (McKinstry) definitely thought the ball hit the ground,” Hinch said. “He held up until Nola threw to first, and then he was sprinting home. He just misread the play.”

It was the first 1-3-5 triple play in the majors since the Tigers turned one against the Red Sox on July 11, 1929, Major League Baseball said, citing the Society for American Baseball Research.

“That was a pretty cool moment for all of us,” Harper said. “It was like going back to Little League, we were so excited.”

Carson's fifth-inning single scored McKinstry to make it 4-1, but Harper's three-run homer in the sixth gave Philadelphia a 7-1 lead. Bohm drove in Harper again with an eighth-inning double.

UP NEXT

The teams will play the second of a three-game series on Tuesday, with Phillies LHP Ranger Suarez (10-1, 1.75) facing Tigers LHP Tarik Skubal (8-3, 2.50).

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb