Phils sweep Padres, eye elusive 4-game win streak

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Between the raindrops, the Phillies rode the clutch hitting of Reid Brignac and John Mayberry Jr. to a 7-3 win over the San Diego Padres on Thursday afternoon.

For the first time in more than three weeks, the Phils have won three games in a row (see Instant Replay).

Now comes the difficult part.

Or at least something that has proven to be very difficult for the Phillies.

Can they win four in a row?

Good teams do it frequently, but the Phillies haven’t been a good team in quite some time.

To wit: They have not won more than three games in a row in over a year -- since June 2-6, 2013, when they won five in a row, to be exact.

A team with a payroll of more than $180 million that hasn’t strung together a four-game winning streak in over a year?

Hard to believe, Harry.

“I didn’t know that,” said Mayberry, who got the start at first base in place of resting Ryan Howard on Thursday and smacked a three-run home run in the seventh inning to help key the three-game sweep of the Padres. “It’s hard to believe.”

Winning pitcher Kyle Kendrick echoed Mayberry.

“It’s definitely hard to believe,” he said. “But we can make it four in a row tomorrow.”

Maybe the Phillies can. The schedule is throwing some love their way on this homestand, first with a visit from the Padres and their anemic bat rack, and now with the Chicago Cubs, last place in the NL Central, coming in on Friday night to start a three-game series.

Yeah, we know the Phillies are also a last-place club. But having the Cubbies in the other dugout, without Jeff Samardzjia scheduled to pitch in the series, is certainly a lot easier on the stomach than some other clubs, like, for instance, the Braves and Cardinals, who both loom on the Phillies’ schedule next week.

“We hope to create some momentum from this,” manager Ryne Sandberg said of the sweep of the Padres, who have a team batting average of just .216 and a team on-base percentage of .275. “Starting this homestand like this could go a long way for us. We definitely want to build on this series.”

Kendrick (2-6) allowed his customary first-inning run (or two) Thursday -- he has allowed 13 first-inning earned runs in 13 starts -- before settling in and keeping the Padres off the board the remainder of his six innings. He did not walk a batter -- a huge key after walking 11 in his previous three starts -- and struck out five.

Sandberg called Kendrick’s first-inning struggles “puzzling.”

“I don’t have an answer,” the pitcher said. “The best answer is I’m just up with pitches and not getting ahead in the first inning. I don’t know if I’m just amped up or what.”

With Kendrick on the mound and the Padres loading their lineup with lefty bats, Sandberg replaced first baseman Howard for defensive purposes the night before the game even began. That’s when he told Mayberry he’d be starting at first even though Howard was 2 for 2 with two homers in his career against San Diego starter Eric Stults.

“With the potential for left-handed hitters in the lineup, I wanted the added defense behind Kendrick,” Sandberg said.

But it was Mayberry’s bat that shined most. He had two doubles to go with his three-run homer. He’s hitting .412 with five doubles and four homers in his last 16 games.

This, of course, will raise the question of whether Mayberry should be playing more, perhaps in left field or center field, where production has been a problem. Mayberry has received plenty of chances the last few years to play regularly with this club and not seized them. Maybe those numbers should be translated this way: He’s finally showing himself to be a productive bench player, which is something this club could use, as well.

So, too is Brignac, who has been playing a lot of third base with Cody Asche out. Brignac was the hero of Wednesday night’s walk-off win. On Thursday, he came off the bench and drove a tie-breaking, two-run double to left-center against reliever Dale Thayer in the sixth.

Brignac’s at-bat was preceded by Howard's coming off the bench and grinding out a 13-pitch at-bat against Thayer. Though Howard struck out, his at-bat proved to be excellent study for Brignac, who watched it all from the on-deck circle.

“I saw every pitch [Thayer] had from the side,” Brignac said. “Ryan had a tough at-bat. I was able to get my timing down on every pitch and that really helped me.”

Antonio Bastardo, Jake Diekman, Mario Hollands and the ooh-and-ahh boy, Kenny Giles (see story), closed it out for the Phillies. It was just the fourth time the Phils have strung together three straight wins this season.

Can they make it four straight for the first time in a year on Friday night?

The anticipation is killer.

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