Hoskins powers Phillies past Brewers, 4-1
Rhys Hoskins hit a 431-foot homer and fell a triple shy of the cycle as the Philadelphia Phillies recorded a 4-1 victory over the host Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday afternoon at Miller Park.
In his seventh game back from a jaw injury, Hoskins produced his second three-hit game of the season. His other occurred in Thursday's 9-3 win over the Colorado Rockies. Since returning, Hoskins is batting .360 (9-for-25) with three homers and nine RBIs.
Hoskins hit his noteworthy blast in the fourth when he opened the inning by driving Junior Guerra's first-pitch fastball well over the left field fence and off a suite window. It was his ninth homer of the season and, at 112 mph, it was Hoskins' hardest hit of his brief career.
The homer occurred after he doubled in the first but was stranded at second. He walked in the fifth and singled in the eighth off Jorge Lopez.
Andrew Knapp hit a solo homer for the Phillies, who matched a season high with 10 walks but went 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position and stranded a season-high 15.
The Phillies also struck out 14 times as Odubel Herrera and Cesar Hernandez each fanned three times.
In the sixth, J.P. Crawford produced a bases-loaded walk and Hernandez delivered an RBI infield single for Philadelphia, which loaded the bases in the sixth, seventh and eighth.
The Phillies rebounded from Friday's 13-2 loss by getting a steady performance from Zach Eflin. Eflin allowed a run on three hits and beat the Brewers for the second time in as many starts.
Eflin (4-2) also won his third straight start as he struck out six, issued one walk and threw 73 pitches to 17 hitters. He might have gone deeper into the game, but the Phillies put runners at second and third in the sixth when his spot in the lineup came up.
Four Philadelphia relievers combined for four scoreless frames.
Seranthony Dominguez fanned Eric Thames and Christian Yelich with two on to end a scoreless eighth. Hector Neris pitched a hitless ninth and notched his 10th save.
Travis Shaw's RBI single accounted for the lone Milwaukee run.
Guerra (3-5) allowed three runs on four hits in 5 1/3 innings. The right-hander is winless in his last six starts dating back to May 14.
The Brewers opened a 1-0 lead four batters in when Yelich walked, advanced to second on a groundout by Lorenzo Cain and scored on Shaw's single to right.
After Hoskins homered, Knapp made it 2-1 by driving Guerra's 2-0 fastball over the center field wall. His 408-foot drive was his first homer of the season and first since May 28, 2017, against the Cincinnati Reds.
The Phillies knocked out Guerra in the sixth following a walk to Scott Kingery and built a 4-1 lead against Boone Logan when Crawford drew his bases-loaded free pass and Hernandez legged out an infield hit by beating Shaw's bare-handed throw from third base.
--Field Level Media
