Trea Turner hit two long home runs, and the major league-leading Philadelphia Phillies hung on to beat the struggling Chicago Cubs 6-4 on Tuesday night.
The Phillies played without injured sluggers Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber. They got the pop they needed from Turner and a terrific performance by Michael Mercado (1-0) in his first major league start.
But it got close in the ninth.
José Ruiz came in and gave up singles to Michael Busch and Cody Bellinger before Seiya Suzuki smacked a three-run homer. Jeff Hoffman then struck out Ian Happ and Christopher Morel before retiring Dansby Swanson on a line drive to right for his seventh save.
The Cubs lost for the seventh time in nine games.
Mercado pitched two-hit ball over five innings to earn his first career win.
Garrett Stubbs gave Philadelphia a 2-0 lead with a two-run double in the second, and Turner took over from there.
Turner lined the first pitch of the third to about the 10th row of the bleachers in left-center. He made it 5-1 with a towering two-run drive in the fifth against Hayden Wesneski (2-5), giving him 15 multihomer games. The two-time All-Star added an RBI single in the seventh.
Mercado permitted one run in his second career appearance. The 25-year-old right-hander struck out four and walked two.
Mercado walked a batter and gave up a single to Suzuki in the first. In between, right fielder Nick Castellanos made a terrific backhanded catch while crashing into the ivy to rob Bellinger of an extra-base hit.
Mercado pitched out of that jam. The only other hit he allowed was Bellinger's RBI double in the third.
Gregory Soto, Orion Kerkering and Yunior Marte each worked a perfect inning before Ruiz ran into trouble.
The Cubs finished with five hits after being held to two in a 7-1 loss at NL Central-leading Milwaukee on Sunday.
Wesneski went five innings, allowing five runs and five hits. The right-hander struck out seven and walked three in his fifth start this season and 22nd appearance.
The Phillies send RHP Zack Wheeler (9-4, 2.73 ERA) to the mound on Wednesday, and the Cubs are going with LHP Shota Imanaga (7-2, 3.07 ERA). Wheeler bounced back with solid starts against Arizona and Miami after getting tagged for a season-high eight runs in a loss to Baltimore. Imanaga shook off his worst start, tossing six solid innings in Chicago's win at San Francisco on Thursday.
