Phillies Dumped by Brewers in One-Inning Barrage
By Matt Veasey
6. 8. 76. Final. 5
The Philadelphia Phillies dropped the finale of a three-game weekend series to the host Brewers at Miller Park in Milwaukee.
After taking the first two games of the weekend to push their way back to the .500 mark, the Phillies bolted out to an early lead over the host Brewers. But the Brew Crew broke out some big bats in the bottom of the 6th inning, bashing their way to an 8-5 win to salvage the series finale.
Phillies starting pitcher Jerad Eickhoff (1-3) had everything going for him early on, including his own two-out RBI single in the 2nd inning that put the club on top by 1-0.
In the top of the 3rd, Odubel Herrera stayed hot by leading off with a base hit. He then moved to 3rd when a pick-off attempt by Brewers starter Wily Peralta (1-3) went wild, and came in to score on a one-out RBI single off the bat of Maikel Franco.
The Brewers got even against Eickhoff in the bottom of the 4th, starting with a one-out, two-strike, opposite field solo home run off the bat of perennial Phillies-killer Ryan Braun. That was followed by a Chris Carter double, and he would score the tying run two batters later on a sacrifice fly from Aaron Hill.
The Phillies would re-take the lead with a pair of runs in the top of the 6th inning. Freddy Galvis led off with a single, and came all the way around to score on a two-out double from Cameron Rupp. When 2nd baseman Cesar Hernandez followed that with a double, Rupp scored to put the Phillies on top by a 4-2 score.
The way that Eickhoff was settling in, that looked like it might be enough to help the Phils sweep this series, but it was not to be. Through the first five innings, the Phillies’ 25-year old righty had allowed just four hits. He would surrender five in the 6th inning before being mercifully lifted.
It began with a Scooter Gennett solo homer to left that cut the Phillies lead down to 4-3. Braun then singled and Carter doubled, putting the go-ahead run out at 2nd base. Both would then score when Kirk Nieuwenhuis slashed a two-run double off the glove of 1st baseman Ryan Howard.
Nieuwenhuis promptly stole 3rd base, and he would score on a one-out double from Jonathan Villar that put the Brewers up by a 6-4 score. That was it for Eickhoff. He allowed a homer and three doubles during that Milwaukee onslaught before being pulled.
Overall, the once-promising Eickhoff pitching line read that he had allowed seven earned runs on nine hits across 5.1 innings pitched. He struck out seven batters and walked none, throwing 63 of his 100 pitches for strikes.
“I don’t know what happened to Eickhoff,” Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said per MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki. “They just kind of all together seemed to know what was coming. They hit him pretty hard, which is hard to figure.”
On in relief came Hector Neris, who had been sensational to this point in the season out of the Phillies bullpen. Even he could not cool the suddenly hot Brewers lineup that was feeding off the old “hitting is contagious” axiom. Neris retired the first batter he faced before yielding a two-run homer to Alex Presley that pushed the Brewers lead to 8-4.
The Phillies answered immediately in the top of the 7th with a solo run when Peter Bourjos drilled a triple to right, and then came in to score on a sacrifice fly by Herrera. Galvis followed with a single, but was wiped out in an attempted steal that appeared to be inappropriately upheld on review.
The Phillies never really threatened again, as Milwaukee’s bullpen retired six of the final seven Phils’ batters, with closer Jeremy Jeffress recording his 6th Save of the season.
Monday will be an off-day for the Phillies as they travel back east to Washington for a three-game set with the NL East-leading Washington Nationals this week at Nationals Park.