Brewers 9, Phillies 8: Santana, Braun help stop skid

PHILADELPHIA - Absolutely nothing is coming easily these days for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Staked to what should have been an insurmountable seven-run lead behind a three-hit, four-RBI game from Ryan Braun and a solid six-inning start from Brent Suter, they wound up needing to go down to the wire again.

In the end, it was a clutch RBI single from Domingo Santana in the ninth inning that helped the Brewers pull out a wild 9-8 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night at Citizens Bank Park.

"I told the guys the other day after one of the games that it’s not going to be easy," said manager Craig Counsell, whose team snapped a season-high, six-game losing streak while also maintaining a one-game lead in the National League Central.

"It wasn’t easy. But the guys picked each other up, and that’s what it came down to and sometimes that’s the way it has to work. The bottom line is, we kept pushing for it and the offense picked us up at the end and had a big night."

Indeed it did.

Braun, in the starting lineup for the first time since Tuesday (sore right wrist), finished a triple shy of the cycle, reached base in all four of his plate appearances and also scored three runs before being pulled in the seventh for rest – a decision that almost came back to bite Counsell & Co.

Travis Shaw also homered and reached base three times, while Santana, Eric Thames and Orlando Arcia got on three times as well as the once-sputtering offense finally kicked it into high gear.

Suter, meanwhile, did his part by scattering five hits and one run while not issuing a walk and striking out five in an 85-pitch outing.

The Brewers held an 8-1 lead when Oliver Drake entered the game for Suter.

BOX SCORE: Brewers 9, Phillies 8

RELATED: Streaky Broxton sent down to make room for Sogard

RELATED: Selig, Kohl, Marcus and others at UW fraternity went on to big things

HAUDRICOURT: When home runs dry up for Brewers, offense is in trouble

RELATED: This week in MLB

RELATED: MLB power rankings

MLB: Live scoreboard, box scores, standings, schedules

But he responded with a blowup outing reminiscent of Carlos Torres' on Friday. He retired just one of the six batters he faced, with César Hernández's three-run homer pulling the Phillies to within 8-5.

Jacob Barnes, who came in having not allowed a run over his previous nine outings, was up next in the eighth. He gave up two singles and then a three-run homer to No. 8 hitter Cameron Rupp to tie it before finally settling down and preserving the tie.

But the Brewers were shellshocked at the quick turn of events.

"It’s happened pretty fast with Brent," Counsell said, referencing the lefty's struggles the third time through the order in previous starts.

"I wasn’t interested in the (left-handed-hitting Odubel) Herrera matchup again. He was going to be done after that, so I just wanted to give Oliver a clean inning with the left-handers.

"But Ollie struggled and gave up the home run. I understand there were a lot of decisions that didn’t work. But I thought we were doing the right thing at the time."

Milwaukee's winning rally started with an Eric Thames double that fell just short of going out to right. After he was forced at third on a Hernán Pérez bunt – Pérez was Braun's replacement in the lineup – Shaw and Santana both followed with singles to get the Brewers back in front.

Corey Knebel then closed it out, recording his 17th save.

"I think for all of us, we got quite the scare watching them come back," said Braun. "For me, physically, I felt fine. But the story of the game was being able to find a way to pull that one out.

"Things have not been going our way, but sometimes all you need is that one win to turn everything around as a team."

The game got underway after a 26-minute delay caused by storms in the area.

Braun's double into the right-field corner in the third netted the Brewers their first lead in the series at 2-0. He advanced to third on the throw home, and not long thereafter a wild pitch allowed him to scamper home to make it 3-0.

Shaw followed with a double to center, then Santana singled to center to score Shaw and just like that the lead had doubled to 4-0.

To further illustrate how rare the outburst was, consider this: Milwaukee came into the game having scored two, three, two, two and one run in its five previous games on the road trip.

Braun then slugged a two-run homer to left-center in the fifth, a shot that made it 6-0, After Braun scored a run on a pair of defensive miscues by the Phillies in the seventh, Shaw went deep to right-center to make it 8-1.

Suter's lone mistake was a solo homer allowed to Herrera in the fifth.

"Suter, to me, did a really good job," Counsell said. "We’ll let him leave (the game) with doing a really good job. He’s been really important for us with the way he’s filled in for Chase (Anderson).

"We haven’t skipped a beat in that spot with the way he’s pitched. That’s been really important."

BEHIND THE BOX SCORE

• While Eric Sogard was reinstated from the disabled list earlier in the day, Wily Peralta remains in a holding pattern as he waits to be activated. He's been out since June 21 with a strained right calf.

"I don't have an answer for you," Counsell said. "He will be activated soon. It could be tomorrow, it could be the first day in Washington. But he's here, so he's going to be activated."

• Sogard, normally known for his tremendous patience at the plate, was back in his usual leadoff spot. Uncharacteristically, he swung at Jeremy Hellickson's first offering of the night and flied out to left.

He finished 0 for 5.

STAT SHEET

• The Brewers' six-game losing streak was their longest since dropping six straight from Aug. 25-30 last season. They haven't lost seven in a row since Sept. 11-19, 2015 (eight games).

• Milwaukee scored a total of 12 runs while batting .122 with runners in scoring position (5 for 41) during their six-game skid. 

TAKEAWAY

Nothing has gone right the last week for the Brewers, so why would a seven-run lead be expected to hold up? Seeing Braun and Suter perform well was welcome, but the bullpen continues to be shaky.

RECORD

This year: 53-47 (28-24 home; 25-23 away)

Last year: 44-56

NEXT GAME

Sunday: Brewers at Phillies, 1:35 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Junior Guerra (1-3, 4.77) vs. Philadelphia RHP Jerad Eickhoff (1-7, 4.83). TV: FS Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620.