Philadelphia Phillies vs Cleveland Guardians Box Score on Sep 21, 2019

Brad Miller hit two solo homers and Bryce Harper slammed a three-run shot as the visiting Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cleveland Indians 9-4 on Saturday night to dent their playoff chances.

The loss ended the Indians' five-game winning streak and dropped them a game back of the Tampa Bay Rays for the second wild card from the American League with seven games left.

Jason Vargas (7-8) earned his first victory in 10 starts with Philadelphia since he was traded from the New York Mets on July 29. Vargas went 6 1/3 innings, allowing four runs (two earned) and five hits, striking out eight and walking two.

Oscar Mercado had a two-run homer to help the Indians (91-64) to an early 4-1 lead.

The Phillies (79-74) chased Cleveland starter Zach Plesac after he brought a 4-2 lead into the fifth inning.

Plesac, who was coming off his first major league shutout on Sept. 10 against the Los Angeles Angels, allowed four runs and five hits in 4 1/3 innings, striking out three and walking two.

Oliver Perez (2-4) came in to face Harper with two on and one out in the fifth, and Harper homered on the ninth pitch of the at-bat for a 5-4 lead.

Jay Bruce tacked on another run in the inning with a homer, and the Phillies scored three more in the ninth for a 9-4 lead.

Adam Haseley and J.T. Realmuto contributed two hits each for Philadelphia.

Plesac walked two of the first three batters he faced and threw 27 pitches in the first inning, but escaped without allowing any runs.

The Phillies helped Cleveland early on in the bottom of the first by committing two errors before getting their first out, leading to two unearned runs.

Plesac gave up a leadoff double to Jean Segura in the second, and he scored on two-out double by Haseley to cut the lead to 2-1.

Vargas got two quick outs in the second before walking Francisco Lindor and then surrendering the two-run homer to Mercado for a 4-1 lead.

Miller hit his first home of the game in the fourth inning to trim the lead to 4-2, and his second blast came in the ninth.

--Field Level Media