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PHILADELPHIA (AP) \u2014 Walker Buehler pitched five strong innings in his Philadelphia debut, Bryce Harper and Bryson Stott homered, and the Phillies won their fifth straight, 8-2 over the Kansas City Royals on Friday night.<\/p>\n
Buehler allowed one run on five hits with one walk and three strikeouts for the NL East-leading Phillies, who are closing in on clinching the division.<\/p>\n
A veteran of seven mostly successful but injury-marred seasons with the Dodgers before joining Boston this season, Buehler (8-7) was released by the Red Sox on Aug. 29 and signed with the Phillies two days later.<\/p>\n
On Friday, he earned his first win since Aug. 8 for Boston at San Diego. He allowed a run in the first when Bobby Witt Jr. singled, stole second and scored on a two-out single by Maikel Garcia.<\/p>\n
The Phillies tied it in the second against Michael Lorenzen on a sacrifice fly by Rafael Marchan. They broke it open over the next two innings.<\/p>\n
In the third, Harper hit a two-run homer, and Brandon Marsh tripled and scored on a single by Otto Kemp for a 4-1 lead. In the fourth, Marchan, Harrison Bader and Kyle Schwarber hit consecutive doubles to push the advantage to 6-1.<\/p>\n
Stott added a two-run shot in the seventh.<\/p>\n
Lorenzen (5-11) went three-plus innings, allowing six earned runs on 10 hits.<\/p>\n
Schwarber led off the third with a walk before Harper drilled one into the left-field seats for his 26th homer, giving the Phillies the lead for good.<\/p>\n
Seldom-used backup catcher Marchan, who entered with a .178 batting average, had two hits and scored a run after his sacrifice fly in the second.<\/p>\n
Royals right-hander Ryan Bergert (2-2, 3.48 ERA) opposes the Phillies\u2019 Taijuan Walker (4-8, 4.03) as the series continues on Saturday.<\/p>\n
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AP MLB: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/mlb<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n