Max Kepler ends his home run drought to power the Phillies’ series win over Padres

Max Kepler watched it fly.

On Monday, he would have had his first homer — and extra-base hit — since June 16, but Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill hauled it back over the wall before it could become a three-run shot.

Kepler didn’t have to wait much longer after that to end his drought. In the fourth inning of the nightcap of Wednesday’s doubleheader, Kepler sent a slider from Dylan Cease 379 feet, a no-doubter to the right-field seats.

“Kep’s an incredible, incredible hitter,” said fellow left-hander Brandon Marsh. “It stunk seeing Jackson take that one away from him in the first game. But he got it back today. And made sure it was uncatchable, for sure.”

The two-run homer supported another dazzling Cristopher Sánchez start, en route to 5-1 win over San Diego.

» READ MORE: Padres pounce on Mick Abel, hold off the Phillies to take Game 1 of doubleheader

Last week, Kepler had expressed discontent with his playing time. He hasn’t faced a left-handed starter since April 2, and has only faced three this season. He sat out four days in a row last week amid a streak of left-handed opposing starters at home and in Houston.

Now starting for the seventh game in a row against the current string of right-handers, Kepler is in a groove. And he’s not the only Phillies lefty who is. Marsh bashed a homer of his own off Cease, an inning after Kepler.

“I like the way that I’m attacking,” Marsh said. “Definitely can improve a lot more on a lot of things. But for what it’s worth, I like where I’m at personally. And just got to continue to take it day-by-day and at-bat by at-bat.”

Marsh redeemed himself after a baserunning blunder in the ninth inning of the doubleheader’s first game. He had nearly made the final out of the game trying to go from first to third on a Trea Turner single, and was only saved when the video review showed that San Diego third baseman Manny Machado missed the tag.

“Probably wasn’t the best decision to go there, to be honest, but I got away with it,” Marsh said.

Meanwhile, Sánchez did not allow a hit until Fernando Tatis Jr. led off the fourth inning with an infield single. Tatis then came around to score the Padres’ only run, after a throwing error from first baseman Otto Kemp and a ground single from Merrill.

The lefty induced a lot of contact on the ground over seven innings, with 13 ground-ball outs.

“He’s just attacking,” said manager Rob Thomson. “He’s attacking the zone; he’s trusting his stuff. He’s just letting it eat.”

For his fourth start in a row, Sánchez did not allow a single walk.

“From the beginning of the offseason, I tried to work on that, and try to get the corners of the zone and just focus on that,” Sánchez said through a team translator. “And I think some starts ago, I was missing a couple pitches near that part of the zone. I think that’s something that’s been working.”

The Phillies added another run in the seventh inning on a triple from Alec Bohm to the right field corner that scored a pinch-running Johan Rojas. With the Phillies leading, Rojas entered the game in place of Kyle Schwarber, who started in left field. Nick Castellanos was the designated hitter.

Sánchez’s pitch count was at 85 after the seventh, but Thomson said he was tired from the heat, so he sent out Orion Kerkering for the eighth. An acrobatic, jumping grab from Bohm at third and back-to-back strikeouts of Merrill and Machado helped Kerkering strand two runners.

» READ MORE: Bryce Harper out of Phillies lineup for nightcap against Padres: ‘I don’t want to push it,’ Thomson says

Matt Strahm pitched the ninth. He bounced back from a two-out walk by striking out Jose Iglesias in three pitches to end the game.

While Bryce Harper did not start the second game of the doubleheader, Thomson said he would have been available to pinch-hit if needed.

After Thursday’s off day, the Phillies are scheduled to face two left-handed starters on the Cincinnati Reds in Andrew Abbott and Nick Lodolo. Have Marsh or Kepler hit their way into a shot at starting against them?

“They’re doing great,” Thomson said. “Now, you might see a few guys in the lineup that are right-handed, but we’ll see. I’m going to think about it tomorrow.”