Milwaukee, WI – Ryan Braun hit a two-run homer, while Nyjer Morgan tripled and drove in a pair of runs to lead the Milwaukee Brewers to a 6-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday.
Yovani Gallardo helped his own cause with a two-run single and Corey Hart had two hits and scored once for the Brewers, who have won two in a row after dropping five of six overall.
Gallardo (12-8) surrendered one run on four hits and struck out nine over seven innings to earn his fourth consecutive win.
"(Gallardo) has been pretty good since (former brewers pitcher Zack Greinke) was traded," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "I don't know if that's the reason why, but he been on a roll and really has done well for a while. I hope he does this the rest of the season."
Ryan Howard had an RBI double and Kevin Frandsen drove in a run for the Phillies, who have lost three in a row.
Vance Worley (6-8) gave up four runs on seven hits in just 4 2/3 innings of work to absorb the loss.
"I know I'm better than what I'm doing. I'm not catching the breaks this year, but I did give up the hit to the pitcher," Worley said. "I'm just not getting the job done with one pitch and it's hurting me. My arm is healthy enough to be out there pitching. It's fine, I'm not hurt."
The Phillies took the lead in the fourth on Howard's RBI double. Chase Utley opened the frame with a ground-rule double then scored when Howard ripped a line drive to center. Morgan jumped to make the catch, but the ball hit his glove and rolled to the fence, allowing Utley to score easily.
"Morgan may have misplayed the ball. His route wasn't perfect, but Howard hit it pretty hard and those are tough for a center fielder," Roenicke said.
Milwaukee scored four in the home half to take the lead.
With two on and two outs, Morgan sent a deep fly ball to left-center and Phillies right fielder Domonic Brown got under the ball, but dropped it as he approached the wall, allowing two runs to score.
"I got back there good, I just dropped it," Brown said. "That play has to be made, it's as simple as that. I needed to come up big for my team, and it didn't happen."
Worley then intentionally walked Jean Segura to get to Gallardo. Segura stole second and Gallardo made him pay with a base hit to right to clear the bases.
"That ball was catchable, that hurt, but he's going to make some mistakes so we know that," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "It might have affected Worley too."
In the sixth, Norichika Aoki walked before Braun clobbered his 32nd homer of the season to dead center.
Following his exit in the seventh, Gallardo left to deal with a family matter in Texas. He will rejoin the team Monday and make his scheduled start Wednesday against the Chicago Cubs.
Game Notes
Braun has five homers off the Phillies this season ... The Brewers are 46-28 in games they hit a home run ... Worley has pitched less than six innings in four of his last five starts ... Howard has hit safely in 11 straight starts for the Phillies.
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