Eduardo Escobar's Homer Lifts Brewers Past Phillies 4-3
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Eduardo Escobar hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the sixth inning, and the Milwaukee Brewers topped the Philadelphia Phillies 4-3 on Wednesday night.
Milwaukee, which won the final two games of the series after dropping the opener, extended its lead to 12 games in the NL Central over Cincinnati, which lost 4-1 to the Chicago Cubs.
Philadelphia remained 2½ games behind NL East-leading Atlanta.
Escobar drove an 0-1 pitch from Connor Brogdon (5-4) deep to right for his 25th homer. The infielder was acquired in a July trade with Arizona.
Milwaukee's bullpen covered 5 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Freddy Peralta. Alan Ashby (2-0) got six outs and Brad Boxberger pitched a perfect seventh. Devin Williams worked the eighth before Josh Hader closed it out for his 30th save in 31 opportunities.
Bryce Harper hit his 29th homer for Philadelphia in the first, but Milwaukee responded with two runs in the bottom half.
Kolten Wong singled and scored on Omar Narváez's one-out double off Kyle Gibson. Consecutive walks by Luis Urias and Daniel Vogelbach forced in another run.
Gibson escaped the bases-loaded jam by striking out Lorenzo Cain and Jackie Bradley Jr.
The Brewers made it 3-1 in the second when Peralta singled, moved to third on Wong's double and scored on Christian Yelich's infield hit.
Philadelphia tied it with two unearned runs in third. The Phillies loaded the bases on singles by Travis Jankowski and Odubel Herrera around an error on Gibson's attempted sacrifice bunt. Harper walked to force in a run and J.T. Realmuto followed with an RBI fielder's choice.
It was the second consecutive abbreviated start for Peralta since a stint on the 10-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation. He allowed three runs, one earned, and four hits in 3 2/3 innings.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Phillies: RHP Zach Eflin is scheduled to undergo surgery Friday in Philadelphia to repair his right patellar tendon. His expected recovery time is six to eight months. He has been transferred to the 60-day injured list.
Brewers: SS Willy Adames hit in the cage for the first time since going on the 10-day injured list on Sunday with a left quad strain.
UP NEXT
The Phillies return home to open a four-game series Thursday against Colorado. LHP Ranger Suárez (6-4, 1.38 ERA) starts for Philadelphia, while the Rockies counter with RHP Antonio Senzatela (4-9, 4.16 ERA).
After an off day, Milwaukee is at Cleveland for three games. RHP Adrian Houser (8-6, 3.41 ERA) starts Friday night for the Brewers against RHP Eli Morgan (2-6, 5.48 ERA).