Philadelphia, PA – Domonic Brown finished a double shy of the cycle and Cliff Lee tossed 7 2/3 strong innings as the Philadelphia Phillies held off the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-5, to avoid a three-game sweep at Citizens Bank Park.
Brown went 3-for-3 with a three-run homer and four RBI, while Ryan Howard, Erik Kratz and Freddy Galvis added one RBI apiece for the Phillies, who won for just the third time in eight games.
"The more consistent he gets, the better he gets," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said of Brown.
Lee (7-2) was charged with three runs on seven hits and struck out a season- high 11 without issuing a walk to win his fifth straight decision.
Antonio Bastardo allowed one run in the ninth inning, but worked out of a bases loaded jam to pick up his first save of the season.
Jonathan Lucroy capped a stellar series with a three-run triple and Norichika Aoki also drove in a run for the Brewers, losers in seven of their last nine games.
Lucroy went 8-for-13 with three homers and eight RBI over the three-game set.
Mike Fiers (1-4) lasted just 1 2/3 innings after giving up seven runs -- five earned -- on seven hits. Fiers has dropped all three starts he's made this season, and hasn't won a start since Sept. 8, 2012 against the St. Louis Cardinals.
"We battled back, and it shows this team is not out of it," Fiers said. "This team still battled through at-bats, and late in the game we almost tied the game or went ahead. It makes it even worse on me."
The Phillies jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning. Jimmy Rollins ripped a two-out double and Fiers intentionally walked Howard to set the table for Brown's three-run shot to right field. It was Brown's third homer of the series and his eighth long ball in nine games.
John Mayberry followed with a base hit then scored on Kratz's double to left-center. Galvis capped the inning with an RBI triple off the wall in right.
Philadelphia tacked on two more in the second inning. With runners on the corners, Howard lifted a sacrifice fly to left field to score Ben Revere. Brown followed with a triple past a sliding Aoki in right field to give the hosts a seven-run cushion.
Milwaukee pushed four runs across in the eighth to get back into the game. Aoki slapped a two-out single to left field to score Rickie Weeks. Carlos Gomez followed with a single and pinch-hitter Aramis Ramirez walked to load the bases for Lucroy, who smashed a triple off the top of the railing on the left-field wall to clear the bases.
The hit was originally ruled a grand slam, but following a nearly five minute review, it was determined that the ball hit the railing on the top of the wall in left field and Lucroy awarded a triple.
Milwaukee looked poised to tie the game in the ninth inning.
Jeff Bianchi singled home Alex Gonzalez with no outs to make it 7-5.
With two on, Bastardo was able to get pinch-hitter Jean Segura to ground into a force play before getting Aoki to fly out to left field. Bastardo then intentionally walked Gomez to load the bases before getting pinch-hitter Martin Maldonado to fly out to center to end the game.
Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon, who hasn't pitched since Wednesday, was unavailable with an undisclosed illness.
"He was very sick today and was kind of feeling that way (Saturday)," Manuel said of Papelbon.
Game Notes
Brown leads the National League with 16 home runs ... Lee has 24 career double-digit strikeout games ... Revere stole his 11th base of the season ... Philadelphia opens a three-game set at home against the Marlins on Monday ... The Brewers were 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position ... Milwaukee will open a three-game set with Oakland on Monday at Miller Park.
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