PHILADELPHIA — As Cristopher Sánchez fired his 86th pitch on Saturday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park, the site of a 3-2 Phillies victory over the Blue Jays, action began in the Phillies bullpen. Right-hander Orion Kerkering began throwing; he wasn’t needed. Sánchez got through the bottom third of the Blue Jays lineup in the top of the seventh on 13 pitches, inducing three groundouts.

Sánchez’s day was done there. It was his second straight start of seven innings, and his third of the season. The left-hander struck out five batters, allowing two runs on five hits. He didn’t issue a single walk. Sánchez turned the game over to the Phillies bullpen with the game tied at two runs apiece.

“(Sánchez) was fantastic,” manager Rob Thomson said. “Fastball command was great. Movement on the fastball was great.”

Sánchez threw his changeup more than any other pitch. He got six whiffs on 21 swings against it.

“The changeup had a lot of bottom to it,” Thomson said. “Got a lot of swing-and-miss, a lot of soft contact.”

Kerkering, the eventual winning pitcher, was the first reliever Thomson summoned from the home team’s bullpen. The right-hander pitched a clean top of the eighth inning against the top of Toronto’s lineup. Kerkering got Bo Bichette to ground out to shortstop, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to pop out into foul territory and struck out Alejandro Kirk after falling behind in the count 3-1.

Kerkering hasn’t allowed an earned run over his last 13 1/3 innings pitched, lowering his ERA to 2.63.

“I think he’s just attacking the zone,” Thomson said about Kerkering. “Stuff’s always good… He’s been very consistent for a while now.”

Kerkering’s performance to keep the game tied proved important. Two batters into the bottom of the eighth, Max Kepler worked a 2-0 count against Blue Jays reliever Chad Green. The Phillies left fielder sent Green’s 2-0 offering — a 95.8 mph fastball — 370 feet pull side for his eighth home run of the season, giving the Phillies a late 3-2 lead.

To the MAX pic.twitter.com/oq6wxtPLo6

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) June 14, 2025

Kepler’s home run was his second this week. “He’s starting to get the ball in the air, and it’s a good thing,” Thomson said about his left fielder. “It was a big hit for us.”

Matt Strahm came on for the top of the ninth, looking to earn his third save of the season. The left-hander did just that. Strahm worked a 1-2-3 top of the ninth to secure the win for the Phillies, sealing a series victory over the Blue Jays.