Milwaukee, WI – Milwaukee, WI (SportsNetwork.com) - Chase Utley hit a two-run homer and the Philadelphia Phillies held on to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 3-2 on Monday in the opener of a four-game series.
Hard-luck left-hander Cole Hamels (3-5) picked up his first win since June 6 after giving up two runs -- one earned -- in 6 2/3 innings while walking two and striking out seven.
"The guys were playing good baseball from the beginning," Hamels said.
The Phillies won for only the fourth time in their last 17 games since a season-high five-game winning streak last month.
Jonathan Papelbon threw a perfect ninth for his 20th save of the season.
Milwaukee outfielder Ryan Braun returned after missing almost two games with back spasms and had two hits, including a double.
The Brewers fell to 1-6 in their last seven games. Marco Estrada (7-6) took the loss, yielding three runs on six hits and two walks in five innings.
Ben Revere led off the game with a single and scored on Utley's one-out blast into the visitors bullpen behind right field, the All-Star second baseman's seventh homer of the season.
Utley singled in the third inning and scored from first on a hit-and-run play when Ryan Howard drove a single into right field for his first RBI in nine games.
"He did okay after that first inning," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said of Estrada. "We have to get through those first couple of innings and see if we can throw up some zeroes."
Hamels rarely faced trouble in the first five innings -- and when he did, he got out of it.
After Carlos Gomez hit a leadoff double in the second, Hamels spun to pick him off. The Brewers had runners at first and second in the fourth with no outs when Gomez grounded into a double play.
But in the fifth, Khris Davis hit a leadoff single to spark a two-run rally for the Brewers. Mark Reynolds reached on third baseman Cody Asche's error after that and Milwaukee loaded the bases on Jean Segura's single.
Jeff Bianchi followed with a slapped pinch-hit two-run single over a jumping Howard at first base to make it 3-2.
Game Notes
Braun went 6-for-12 with three homers and 10 RBI in Milwaukee's three-game sweep of the Phillies in Philadelphia in April ... The series wraps up a 10- game road trip for the Phillies ... The Brewers started a seven-game homestand that will carry them to the All-Star break.
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