Brewers 6, Phillies 3: Fast Start Holds Up This Time as Crew Gains Key October Advantage

[Michael Trzinski]

Image courtesy of © Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

On 'Bark in the Park Night' Wednesday evening, the Milwaukee Brewers showed more bite than bark, as they used a five-run first inning to propel them past the Philadelphia Phillies 6-3 before a crowd of 28,528 people (and several dozen well-behaved canines) at Uecker Field.

Rookie of the Year front-runner Isaac Collins blasted a three-run homer into the Aurora Health Care Bullpen in right field, to break the game open right at its start. Just before that, Sal Frelick had driven home two runs with a single to center. The party was on, and would last all evening.

Brewers starter Jose Quintana held the Phillies scoreless for four innings, while theCrew added their sixth run in the bottom of the fourth. Jake Bauers singled, stole second, and then scored on Brice Turang's line-drive double off the left-field wall. But in a repeat of what happened Monday in a 10-8 Brewers loss, the Phillies fought back. Nick Castellanos and Edmundo Sosa each singled to lead off the top of the fifth. One out later, Trea Turner singled to right to score Castellanos. Quintana buckled down to strike out Kyle Schwarber and got Bryce Harper on a fielder's choice to escape further damage.

Quintana finally ran out of gas in the seventh after a single by Castellanos and a long two-run shot by Weston Wilson that cut the lead to 6-3. Aaron Ashby and Abner Uribe combined for five outs, before Jared Koenig came on for the ninth inning and earned his first save of the year to cap off the Brewers win over the team that trails the Brewers with the second-best record in the National League.

Turang had a double and a triple to lead Milwaukee's offense, in addition to Collin's home run. (Wilson and Harrison Bader collided on the warning track in left-center field, allowing Turang to race to third on a play in the second inning with one out, but Turang was stranded at third after Jackson Chourio and William Contreras struck out.)

Quintana recovered from a subpar outing on August 28 against Arizona by going 6 1/3 solid innings, allowing seven hits, three runs, and three walks while striking out six to earn his 11th victory. Increasingly, it looks like there will be a role for Quintana on the pitching staff even in October, so a good showing against a potential NLCS opponent was nice to see.

The win improved the Brewers' league-best record to 86-54, six games ahead of the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central. The Brewers and Phillies meet Thursday night for the rubber match in their three-game series, but having swept the previous matchup in Philadelphia, Milwaukee now has the tiebreaker between the two clubs. Should they finish with the same record, the Crew would get the top seed, assuring themselves of home-field advantage throughout the bracket.

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