TORONTO (Interstat) — Cristopher Sánchez pitched seven strong innings and the Philadelphia Phillies used a pair of early rallies to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-2 on Monday night at Rogers Centre before a crowd of 37,178.

The victory improved the Phillies to 36-30, while the Blue Jays fell to 32-35. The game lasted 2 hours, 34 minutes.

Philadelphia struck first in the second inning. Bryson Stott led off with a double and Adolis García followed by launching a home run to left-center field, his seventh of the season, giving the Phillies a 2-0 lead. The scoring continued in the third. After walks to Trea Turner and Bryce Harper and a hit batter that loaded the bases, Alec Bohm singled to left to score Turner. J.T. Realmuto then singled to center, scoring Harper and moving the runners. Stott walked to push across Brandon Marsh, and the Phillies held a 5-0 advantage.

Toronto answered in the bottom of the third. Myles Straw doubled, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a groundout by Yohendrick Piñango. The Blue Jays pulled within 5-2 in the fifth when Ernie Clement hit a solo home run, his seventh, to left-center field.

That was all the offense Toronto could muster against Sánchez. The left-hander allowed two earned runs on four hits while striking out 10 and walking one over seven innings. He threw 98 pitches, 68 for strikes. Sánchez improved to 8-2, extending a stretch of strong outings. In his previous two starts, he had surrendered a combined one earned run over 14 innings, earning wins against San Diego.

Sánchez retired the side in order in the first, second and fourth innings. He worked out of a mild jam in the seventh, when Clement singled and Straw walked, but induced a groundout to end the threat. The only real trouble came in the fifth, when Clement homered, but Sánchez responded by striking out Andrés Giménez and retiring the next two batters on groundouts.

Simeon Woods Richardson relieved Toronto starter Patrick Corbin in the fourth and delivered four scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out three. Corbin took the loss, falling to 2-3, after giving up five runs—four earned—on four hits and four walks over three innings. He struck out three.

The Blue Jays bullpen kept the Phillies off the board after the third. Tommy Nance worked a scoreless eighth, allowing two hits and striking out one. Adam Macko pitched a perfect ninth with one strikeout.

Jhoan Duran closed the game for Philadelphia, pitching a scoreless ninth inning. He allowed one hit and struck out none, earning his 16th save of the season. Brad Keller worked a scoreless eighth, giving up one hit and striking out one.

Philadelphia totaled seven hits. García’s home run and Stott’s double were the only extra-base hits. Bohm and Realmuto each drove in a run, and Stott added a run batted in on his walk. Edmundo Sosa doubled in the sixth but was left stranded.

Toronto finished with six hits. Clement went 2-for-4 with his solo homer. Piñango doubled and drove in a run. Andrés Giménez doubled in the ninth but was left at third base. Straw also doubled for the Blue Jays.

The Phillies’ defensive efforts included a double play in the second inning, when Alec Bohm grounded into a force out but the play erased a runner. Toronto turned a double play in the ninth to end a Phillies threat.

The game marked the start of a two-game series between the clubs. Philadelphia entered having won four of its last five games, including a 9-5 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday. Toronto had won two straight, including a 6-4 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday.

The Phillies will send a starting pitcher to the mound Tuesday in the second game of the series, while the Blue Jays will counter with a starter of their own. Toronto then hosts the New York Yankees for a three-game series beginning Friday, followed by a road trip to Boston and Chicago. Philadelphia travels to Milwaukee for a three-game set starting Friday after the Toronto series, then returns home to face Miami and the New York Mets.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Philadelphia Phillies 7, Toronto Blue Jays 4. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Toronto with a 50.70 percent probability to win. Philadelphia had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total of 7 runs went under the over/under line of 7.5.