Takeaways after Phillies win 3 straight vs. Brewers

After an early burst of offense, however, the Phillies’ bats pulled a major disappearing act. They had three hits in the first inning but just one the rest of the night. 

With some clutch relief pitching late in the game, the Phillies managed to hold on for a 5-4 victory.

It was their third win in as many nights, all by one run, against the Brewers and it pushed them a game over .500 at 16-15. The Phils lead the National League East. 

Here’s three takeaways:

Another one-run game

The Phils have played 31 games and 15 of them have been decided by one run. The last seven games have been decided by one run. They are 9-6 in those games.

Explosive 1st inning

Andrew McCutchen, whose bat has awakened over the last few games, led off the bottom of the first inning with a double. Brad Miller, who started in right field in place of Bryce Harper (sore wrist), followed with a walk and Rhys Hoskins singled to give the Phils a quick 1-0 lead.

J.T. Realmuto made it four straight Phillies to reach base as he walked to load up the bases for Didi Gregorius. The Phillies’ shortstop took a first-pitch changeup then turned on a down-and-in slider and hit a moon-shot into the right-field seats for a grand slam and a 5-0 lead.

The grand slam was the eighth of Gregorius’ career and third with the Phillies.

After sending five men to the plate and having them all score, the Phillies’ next three hitters struck out as Peralta righted himself to get out of the inning.

Five up, five runs. Six up, six strikeouts. Not a bad turnaround for Peralta. 

Clutch relieving

The Brewers scored one run against Phillies starter Chase Anderson in the third and would have had another if it weren’t for Odubel Herrera’s cutting down a run at plate. Herrera’s throw from centerfield was not a good one – he airmailed the cutoff man with an archer – but it did hit Daniel Vogelbach and ultimately turned out to be a big play in what turned out to be a one-run game. 

The Brewers rallied for three runs in the fifth on a pinch-hit homer by Tyrone Taylor against Anderson and a two-run single by Avasail Garcia against JoJo Romero. Romero then walked Jack Bradley Jr. to put two men on base in a one-run game. 

Manager Joe Girardi then made a series of bullpen moves that all paid dividends.

Kintzler came on and struck out Pablo Reyes with two men on base to end the fifth. Kintzler stayed on and got three outs in the sixth. 

Moore walked the first batter of the seventh but rolled a double-play ball and registered a strikeout for a quick inning.

De Los Santos then survived a leadoff double to put up a zero in the eighth. 

Alvarado, whose come back from a two-game suspension, worked the ninth. He got the final two outs with the potential tying run on second base.

Up next

The Phillies will look for a sweep of the Brewers behind Zack Wheeler on Thursday afternoon.