A night after being stuck with the pointy end of one of the finest pitching performances in modern memory, the Philadelphia Phillies (38-32) recorded a season-high 17 hits and held on for dear life in a 9-8 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers (42-26) on Saturday night.
The Phillies opened the scoring against Brewers’ lefty, Shane Drohan, in the second inning with a two-out solo shot by Edmundo Sosa, his fourth of the season.
They tacked on two more runs in the fourth inning on an RBI double by Bryson Stott and an RBI single by Brandon Marsh.
The Brewers clawed back with a two-run home run by Garrett Mitchell in the bottom of the inning and a solo homer by Jackson Chourio in the fifth.
The offense put up a five spot in the sixth, sending nine men to the plate with six straight hits to open the inning, punctuated by a mammoth three-run home run by JT Realmuto.
The entire starting lineup reached base with Bryce Harper being the sole member without a hit.
Two nightmare innings by Jose Alvarado and Brad Keller brought the five-run lead down to one and a crucial insurance run in the top of the eighth, brought by a two-out walk by Harper and back-to-back singles by Alec Bohm and Marsh, proved to be the decisive factor.
Jhoan Duran picked up his 18th save of the season with a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth to shut the door.
The rubber match will be tomorrow afternoon as Cristopher Sanchez battles fellow standout lefty, Kyle Harrison.
