MILWAUKEE – Domonic Brown thinks he should have caught the ball. So does Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel.
A deep fly ball hit by Nyjer Morgan glanced off Brown's glove, paving the way for a four-run fourth inning in the Philadelphia Phillies' 6-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers Friday night.
Philadelphia had a 1-0 lead with two outs in the fourth before the Brewers rallied. Corey Hart singled, Martin Maldonado walked, and Morgan hit his two-run triple. Brown ran toward the gap, but it bounced off the side of his glove before he took two steps and crashed into the wall.
"That ball was catchable," Manuel said.
Brown agreed.
"I got back there good. I just dropped it," he said. "That play has to be made. Simple as that. I needed to come up big for my team and it didn't happen. No excuses. I've got to make that catch."
After rookie Jean Segura was intentionally walked and stole second base, Milwaukee pitcher Yovani Gallardo singled to right to give the Brewers a 4-1 lead. He entered the game with a .140 batting average and five RBIs.
Vance Worley (6-8) allowed four earned runs, seven hits and three walks in 4 2-3 innings for Philadelphia. He struck out three and has just one victory in six starts.
"Whether that ball was caught or not, I put myself in that situation," Worley said. "It's upsetting. I know I'm better than what I'm doing. I'm just not catching the breaks this year. But I did give up a hit to the pitcher."
Philadelphia's first run came in the fourth on Ryan Howard's double. The Phillies added a run in the ninth on a single by Kevin Frandsen.
Before his start, Gallardo learned there was a serious illness in his family in Texas.
The right-hander then calmly won his fourth straight start, also drove in two runs, and left town immediately after the game.
"I knew because he told me before the game," said Ryan Braun, who helped Milwaukee extend its home winning streak to nine by hitting his NL-leading 32nd home run. "So it's that much more impressive that he went out there and performed as well as he did on the mound and at the plate knowing there's some more important things going on in his life."
Gallardo (12-8) gave up one earned run, four hits and two walks in seven innings. He also struck out nine. He has allowed six earned runs over 28 2-3 innings in his past four starts.
"Outstanding ballgame," Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke said. "Probably the best he's had his curveball all year. Great location on the fastball; good stuff. Threw some nice changeups, some nice cutters. I thought it was a great ballgame."
After Braun struck out with the bases loaded in Milwaukee's four-run fourth - the second out he made in the inning - Braun connected for a two-run homer to center with two outs in the sixth to make it 6-1. He has hit three homers in two games after being given the day off on Wednesday at Colorado. Before that, Braun was in a 6-for-42 skid (.142) with no homers in 10 games.
NOTES: Milwaukee has allowed four runs or fewer in its last eight home games. . Worley has pitched fewer than six innings in four of his last five starts. . In his last two games, Gallardo has 17 strikeouts in 16 2-3 innings. He has seven RBI this season, which is tied with Washington's Stephen Strasburg for the league lead among pitchers. . The Phillies are 11-47 when they score less than three runs.
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