Bohm, Realmuto hit back-to-back homers as Phillies rally for 4-2 victory over Brewers
The Phillies snapped a three-game losing streak and maintained their 2 1/2-game lead over the Cubs in a crowded NL wild-card race.
Wade Miley silenced the Philadelphia Phillies his first two times through the lineup.
The third time around, however, the Phillies responded emphatically.
Alec Bohm and J.T. Realmuto hit back-to-back homers off Miley to open the seventh inning and the Phillies defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 4-2 on Sunday to snap a three-game losing streak and avoid being swept. Miley had pitched 5 2/3 innings of no-hit ball before the Phillies rallied to maintain their 2 1/2-game lead over the Cubs in a crowded NL wild-card race.
“He’s a good pitcher,” Bohm said. “It’s not the traditional stuff we’re used to seeing nowadays with the 96-97 and all that. He just knows how to pitch and gets outs, and he’s been doing it for a while. I think he left a couple of pitches over the plate, and we didn’t miss them. No matter where we’re at in this order, I feel like we can always do damage and just get your mistakes.”
Miley (7-4) didn’t allow a hit until Trea Turner delivered a shot that went off the glove of third baseman Andruw Monasterio and headed into left field for a two-out single in the sixth. Nick Castellanos followed that with an RBI double.
The veteran left-hander had thrown only 74 pitches through the first six innings and came back out for the seventh for the NL Central-leading Brewers.
“I didn’t really have a doubt about sending him out there,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “I just thought he was throwing the ball really well today. Obviously the inning didn’t work out.”
Bohm led off the inning by homering to left center on a 2-1 changeup, though both he and Miley said afterward they didn’t think the ball was hit well enough to clear the wall.
“It just kept going and going,” Miley said.
Realmuto followed with a 443-foot drive to center off a 1-0 cutter as he homered for a second straight game.
Miley struck out Bryson Stott but walked Cristian Pache before leaving the game. Turner added a two-out RBI single that extended Philadelphia’s lead to 4-2.
“I just went from executing really well, and then I just kind of ran out of gas a little bit there late and just didn’t execute,” Miley said. “And they made me pay.”
Although he collected two hits, Turner failed to homer Sunday after going deep in five consecutive games to tie a Phillies franchise record.
The Brewers nearly pulled back ahead in the bottom of the seventh.
Phillies reliever Matt Strahm walked Owen Miller and Mark Canha to start the inning. William Contreras then hit a fly ball that Pache caught on the center-field warning track. Strahm ended the threat by striking out Carlos Santana and retiring Willy Adames on a pop to first.
Contreras and Canha hit solo homers for the Brewers, who had won 7-5 each of the last two nights and were seeking to sweep the Phillies for the first time since August 2015.
Contreras’ 410-foot shot to center in the first inning extended his hitting streak to 13 games. Canha led off the third with a drive that barely cleared the right-field wall.
The Brewers had a chance to extend their lead later in the third, but Ranger Suárez struck out Victor Caratini with the bases loaded to end the threat. Milwaukee went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position to end its eight-game home winning streak.
Both of Milwaukee’s homers came off Suárez, who was activated from the injured list this weekend after recovering from a strained right hamstring.
Suárez worked four innings and struck out five while allowing five hits, two runs and two walks in his first appearance since Aug. 13.
Jeff Hoffman, Seranthony Domínguez (4-3), Strahm, José Alvarado and Craig Kimbrel combined for five innings of scoreless relief. Kimbrel worked around a one-out single to earn his 22nd save in 25 opportunities.
“They were excellent — all of them,” Suárez said through an interpreter. “Strahm, Alvy, Domínguez, Kimbrel, Hoffman. They all were great.”
Miley allowed four runs, four hits and three walks in 6 1/3 innings, which represented his second-longest start of the season. He struck out two.
Up next
Phillies: Open a three-game series at San Diego on Monday. The scheduled starting pitchers are RHP Taijuan Walker (14-5, 4.05 ERA) for the Phillies and LHP Rich Hill (0-3, 8.50) for the Padres.
Brewers: Begin a three-game series at Pittsburgh on Monday. RHP Corbin Burnes (9-7, 3.55) will be pitching for the Brewers.
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