Brewers Take 2 out of 3 Against the Phillies

On a beautiful, humid Tuesday evening at Citizens Bank Park in South Philadelphia, the Phillies started a four-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers. Coming into Tuesday, the Phillies felt really good taking 3 out of 4 games against the San Diego Padres. The pitching and hitting continued to shine.

Phillies starting pitcher, Aaron Nola, pitched a phenomenal game except during the top half of the fifth where he struggled a bit but found his groove again before exiting out of the game in the eighth. He pitched 7.1 innings, struck out 6, walked none, and gave up only 2 runs. Nola looked comfortable out there as his velocity was amazing.

The fun started in the bottom of the first, where Kyle Schwarber stood at the plate looking to continue his home run streak to 4 games. Guess what, he smacked one out on the first pitch he saw from Brewers Julio Teheran which was an opposite-field solo home run that gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead.

In the bottom of the second, Alec Bohm had a good at-bat where he drove in J.T. Realmuto grounded out to second which made the score 2-0. An inning later, in the bottom of the 3rd, Nick Castellanos singled to left field that scored Trea Turner that made it 3-0.

The score was 3-2 Phillies as they headed to the bottom of the 5th where Phillies extended their lead with a Bryson Stott single that brought in a run that made the score 4-2.

Aaron Nola gave up a run in the top of the 8th but the Phillies locked it up and Phillies reliever Craig Kimbrel got the save.

Kyle Schwarber is continuing to have fantastic at-bats. The way he swings the bat is on another level at the moment. It’s awesome to see the success he is having and all Phillies fans hope that this home run game streak that he has continues to grow.

Craig Kimbrel is killing it! With Jose Alvarado out, it doesn’t seem to affect Kimbrel at all as he looks dialed in every time he takes the mound for the save. He looked like he was just like that at the end of the game where he focused on his throwing and it ended up being successful and helped the Phillies get their 4th straight win.

The Phillies went on to win, 4-3.

The Phillies got caught up in a rally offensively as the Milwaukee Brewers cruised by the Phillies’ defense as their bats were heating up in the top half of the second inning. Their stellar performance crushed Phillies starting pitcher Christopher Sanchez early in the game.

It wasn’t what Phillies fans were expecting as Sanchez didn’t handle himself well on the mound. His strike zone target and command were a little off as the Brewers got the best of it. Sanchez went 5.0 innings, stuck out 3 batters, gave up 6 hits, and 1 earned run.

The only positive outcome was when Phillies Nick Castellanos hit a home run followed by a game-tying hit by Kyle Schwarber that drove in two runs that made the score 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth.

The Brewers then re-took the lead on a William Contreras double that scored the go-ahead run that made it 4-3 Brewers in the top of the seventh. Contreras continued to put a dent in the Phillies as he doubled to center field to score a run in the top of the ninth.

Should Phillies fans be concerned about Darick Hall’s inconsistency at the plate? The answer is no because sometimes you are hot and sometimes you are cold and time can only tell when someone gets hot. The time will come, just be patient.

Brandon Marsh has been sluggish at the plate recently. It’ll be interesting to see what he does in the next couple of months. He has been a huge asset to the team and he needs to connect better and swing through more.

The Brewers tied the series up with a final score, 5-3.

It was a hot Thursday afternoon as the Phillies tried to make up for their loss on Wednesday in the series finale versus the Brewers. The Brewers’ at-bats and pitching were solid as they made it a nightmare for the Phillies all game.

Despite a pretty solid performance by Phillies starting pitcher Taijuan Walker, he got into trouble in the top of the third inning as Brewers Christian Yelich went yard for a three-run home run that made it 3-0. Walker gave up four earned runs but besides that, he was on point with his pitching after that half-inning before he got the sign that he would be finished.

William Contreras and Christian Yelich were the key offensive players in this game. Contreras contributed with a single to left field that scored another run that made it 4-0.

Phillies relievers late in games are a concern because their velocity and pitching locations haven’t been up to point, especially reliever Andrew Vasquez. He looked out of sorts during today’s game. It’ll be interesting to see what the Phillies manager Rob Thomson decides to go with late in the game in their next three at Cleveland before coming back home to face a terrific Baltimore Orioles team.

The Phillies bats need to be better against deep pitchers, for example, Brewers Corbin Burnes where he was electric and made the Phillies offense look bad. It will be very interesting to see if the Phillies hitters will change anything with their stance in the batter’s box for the rest of the season against solid pitchers on solid teams.

The Phillies fell to the Brewers in their series finale, 4-0.

NEXT UP: The 52-44 Phillies will travel to Cleveland to go up against the 47-49 Guardians starting Friday, July 21 at 7:05 pm ET. The game can be seen and heard on NBC Sports Philadelphia and 94.1 WIP.