Royals slug 4 homers, tag Phillies ace Sánchez for career-worst 9 earned runs in 15-1 victory

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Salvador Perez, Luke Maile, Lane Thomas and Tyler Tolbert homered and the Kansas City Royals tagged Phillies ace Cristopher Sánchez for a career-worst nine earned runs in a 15-1 win over Philadelphia on Monday.

The Royals (36-54), who entered the game with the second-worst record in baseball, scored in every inning and banged out a season-high 15 runs on 22 hits. Tyler Tolbert had his first career five-hit game, and the first by a Royals player since 2022.

Noah Cameron (5-6) allowed one run on six hits with five walks and seven strikeouts in five innings. The Phillies scored in the top of the first, but were shut down the rest of the way despite having at least one baserunner in every inning.

Sánchez’s previous high in earned runs allowed was seven. The 29-year-old left-hander gave up six runs in the first, matching his season worst performance, which came April 23 against the Chicago Cubs. Sánchez (10-4) allowed 12 hits and had a walk and one strikeout as his ERA increased from 2.00 to 2.62.

In the bottom of the first, Bobby Witt Jr. scored on fielder’s choice when the Phillies failed to turn an inning-ending double play. The next three Royals had singles before Luke Maile followed with a three-run homer in his first at-bat of the season.

Salvador Perez added to Sanchez’s misery with his 11th home run in the second. It was the 314th homer of his career, moving him to three behind George Brett for the most in franchise history.

Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber, who leads the MLB with 30 homers, was ejected in the sixth inning for arguing a checked-swing call after his third strikeout. It was the first ejection this season for Schwarber, who also drew a walk.