Jhonkensy Noel had three hits, including a three-run home run, to help the visiting Cleveland Guardians to a 4-3 win against the Philadelphia Phillies in the deciding game of their three-game series on Sunday afternoon.
Steven Kwan hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the seventh inning for the Guardians, who have won four of six. It was Kwan's 11th homer this season, equaling his combined total from the previous two seasons.
The Guardians (63-42) own the top record in the American League and lead the AL Central by 4.5 games over the Twins. The Phillies (65-40) still own the best record in MLB despite losing two of three to Cleveland.
Joey Cantillo made his major league debut for Cleveland, and the 24-year-old left-hander allowed three runs and four hits in 3 1/3 innings. He struck out three and walked three.
Cade Smith , Nick Sandlin , Tim Herrin (4-0), Hunter Gaddis and Scott Barlow combined for 4 2/3 innings of scoreless relief before Emmanuel Clase pitched the ninth for his 33rd save of the season and 20th straight.
Kyle Schwarber homered twice and drove in all three runs for the Phillies, who have lost three of four.
Philadelphia starter Kolby Allard was recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Saturday and made his team debut. He allowed three runs and six hits in four innings, striking out one without a walk.
Gregory Soto and Orion Kerkering followed with scoreless innings of relief before Jose Alvarado (1-5) surrendered the home run to Kwan with two outs in the seventh to give the Guardians a 4-3 lead.
Schwarber hit the third pitch from Cantillo over the fence in center field for his ninth leadoff home run of the season and a 1-0 lead.
Garrett Stubbs started the third by grounding a pitch just under the glove of diving second baseman Andres Gimenez and into right field. Schwarber then powered a slider into the right field seats for a two-run homer that extended the lead to 3-0.
Schwarber, a left-handed hitter, came into the game hitting .336 against left-handers and .185 against right-handers.
Cleveland's Jose Ramirez hit a sharp grounder to third to lead off the fourth. Alec Bohm made a diving stop, but his throw to first was late. Philadelphia shortstop Trea Turner then knocked down a hard grounder by David Fry with a backhand, but couldn't make a throw.
Noel stepped up and slammed a four-seam fastball over the fence in center for a three-run homer that tied it 3-3. Noel has six home runs in 23 games with the Guardians this season.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Jhonkensy Noel, Steven Kwan lead Guardians in win over Phillies
