Aaron Nola made his sixth straight impressive start and the Phillies' offense jumped on each of the first two pitchers they faced in a 6-1 win.
Twenty-one runs on 41 hits over the last three games ... break up this lineup.
The Phils never trailed Friday, building a two-run lead two batters into the bottom of the first inning with a walk from Cesar Hernandez and a home run from Freddy Galvis.
When Brewers starter Matt Garza exited after the fifth inning, the Phillies greeted reliever Carlos Torres with three hits — including a two-run double by Tommy Joseph — and two walks.
Six runs were more than enough support for a locked-in Nola, who at one point struck out eight Brewers in a nine-batter span.
The win was the fourth in five games for the 33-61 Phillies. It was a sixth straight loss for the Brewers (52-47), who haven't won since the Phillies left Milwaukee last weekend.
MLB
Starting pitching report
Nola's only blemish was a second-inning solo home run off the bat of Brett Phillips. He allowed just five hits over seven innings and struck out nine.
He had all four pitches — fastball, curveball, sinker and especially his changeup — working.
It's the sixth straight quality start for Nola, who improved to 7-6 with a 3.38 ERA. Over his last six starts, he's 4-1 with a 1.70 ERA, a .190 opponents' batting average and 50 strikeouts in 42 1/3 innings.
Nola induced groundball double plays in the first and third innings. He didn't pick up his first strikeout until the final batter of the third inning, but from that point, he whiffed eight of nine batters.
During this six-start stretch, Nola's opponents have hit .118 with runners in scoring position, second in the National League to only Clayton Kershaw.
Garza allowed two first-inning runs before holding the Phillies scoreless over the next four frames. He walked three, struck out four, and stranded the bases loaded with one out in the second inning.
Bullpen report
Pat Neshek struck out two during a scoreless eighth inning. His ERA is down to 1.14. The only two relievers in the majors with a lower ERA are Pirates closer Felipe Rivero (0.70) and Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen (0.88).
Hector Neris pitched a clean ninth.
The Phillies have the lowest bullpen ERA in the majors since June 26 at 1.84.
At the plate
Galvis has 11 homers and 41 RBIs on the season. He's hitting .252 with a .728 OPS, a respectable mark for a shortstop with a glove like his. He's on pace for 19 home runs, a season after hitting a career-high 20.
Notable players who have more at-bats and fewer home runs than Galvis' 31 since the start of 2016: Christian Yelich, Buster Posey, Francisco Lindor and Xander Bogaerts.
No, he doesn't get on base enough, but the good has vastly outweighed the bad with Galvis this season.
Leading 2-1 in the sixth, the Phillies added four insurance runs on Joseph's double off the center-field wall, a bases-loaded walk by Hernandez and a sac fly from Galvis. These are important at-bats moving forward for Joseph and Hernandez, who have Rhys Hoskins and Scott Kingery at Triple A breathing down their necks.
Hernandez walked twice and was hit by a pitch. Since returning from the DL, he's reached base in 9 of 21 plate appearances.
The Phillies were ecstatic to see a Brewers team without Ryan Braun, who missed the game with wrist and calf issues. Braun may be the foremost active Phillie killer and his numbers at Citizens Bank Park are insane — .383 batting average, 10 homers, 29 RBIs and his highest OPS (1.150) in any park.
A new Franco?
Prior to Friday's game, Pete Mackanin opined that the reason behind Maikel Franco's recent successful run is a more level swing (see story). Mackanin thinks that Franco is focusing less on lofting the ball and the result is more plate coverage.
Franco went 1 for 4 Friday with a sharply hit single between third and short.
Howie's back
Howie Kendrick (hamstring) was activated off the DL Friday and Brock Stassi was optioned to Triple A. Kendrick did not start but had a pinch-hit single up the middle in the eighth. Mackanin plans to play him every day if Kendrick shows this weekend that he's fully healthy. The Phils want him to get as many plate appearances as possible ahead of the July 31 trade deadline (see story).
Kendrick is hitting .354 with an .887 OPS. Plenty of contending teams could use him, especially because of his positional versatility.
Health check
Daniel Nava exited in the seventh inning with a hamstring injury and is day to day. He missed just under two weeks in May with a right hamstring strain, which he said was the first of his career.
Up next
The three-game series continues Saturday night at 7:05 when Jeremy Hellickson (6-5, 4.44) opposes Brewers left-hander Brent Suter (1-1, 3.09).