Lucroy, Brewers rally past Phillies
Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - Jonathan Lucroy snapped out of his slump with four hits on Monday, leading the Milwaukee Brewers to a 7-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in the opener of a four-game series.
Lucroy entered the game mired in a 3-for-23 slump, but a series with Philadelphia, the worst team in the majors and one he has hit well over his career, was just what he needed. Lucroy, Adam Lind and Aramis Ramirez all drove in two runs in the win, and Lucroy scored twice.
"We did a good job, we kept the pressure on," said Brewers manager Craig Counsell. "We executed tonight offensively."
Milwaukee's offense made a winner out of Jimmy Nelson (5-8), who allowed four runs on six hits over five innings of work.
Philadelphia did all of its scoring in the first two innings, pushing a pair of runs across in each. Ben Revere led off the home first with a double and scored on Lucroy's error, and Cesar Hernandez came around on a Nelson balk.
Then in the second, pitcher Sean O'Sullivan's double put two runners in scoring position. Freddy Galvis scored on Revere's grounder back to the mound, and Hernandez plated O'Sullivan to make it 4-1.
"They played hard, I can't knock anybody for that," said Phillies interim manager Pete Mackanin.
It was all Milwaukee from there. Lind, who gave the Brewers a brief 1-0 lead with his run-scoring double in the top of the first, cut the deficit in half with sacrifice fly in the third. Ryan Braun pulled them within a run with an RBI double in the fifth, and a three-run sixth put Milwaukee in front.
Scooter Gennett and Hernan Perez singled to start the frame, and Ramirez came off the bench and doubled in both runners. Lucroy's RBI single off Justin DeFratus later in the inning made it 6-4.
Lucroy delivered again in the eighth with another RBI single, and Francisco Rodriguez earned his 16th save.
O'Sullivan (1-6) was charged with six runs on 12 hits in five-plus for Philadelphia, which has dropped four straight home games against the Brewers.
Game Notes
This was the fifth four-hit game of Lucroy's career ... Lucroy has 13 runs scored in 11 career games against the Phillies ... Milwaukee matched a season high with 16 hits ... Earlier, the Phillies announced that Andy MacPhail will succeed Pat Gillick as team president at the conclusion of the season. MacPhail will serve as special assistant to Gillick for the remainder of the season.