By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Final: Phillies 6, Brewers 1 ❖ Attendance: 17,550
PHILADELPHIA — Behind seven strong innings by RHP Aaron Nola, the Philadelphia Phillies (33-61) delivered RHP Matt Garza and the National League Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers (52-47) their sixth consecutive loss in Friday evening's series opener at Citizens Bank Park.
Shortstop Freddy Galvis led the way with three RBIs, including a first inning, two-run blast to give his club an early lead in which they never looked back. Phillies pitching combined to allow six hits and two walks, while striking out 12 batters. Nola now has a 2.49 ERA, 1.060 WHIP ratio and 68 strikeouts over his last nine starts (61 1/3 innings).
WP: Aaron Nola (7-6, 3.38 ERA) ❖ LP: Matt Garza (4-5, 3.83 ERA)
Hub: Game Summary ❖ Starting Pitchers ❖ At the Plate ❖ Bullpen ❖ What's Next
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| MIL | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| PHI | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | X | 6 | 8 | 0 |
The Phillies took advantage of a struggling Garza in the top of the first. After second baseman Cesar Hernandez walked to lead off the game, Galvis delivered with a two-run blast to right, his 11th. In the process, Galvis earned his 39th and 40th RBIs of the season.
With two outs in the top of the second, Milwaukee cut its two-run deficit in half with a solo, opposite field home run by rookie center fielder Brett Phillips, the second of his career through 20 at-bats.
Nola would go on to retire 11 of his next 12 batters faced, including a stretch of eight strikeouts over nine faced batters. The Phillies right-hander struck out five straight between the two-out mark in the third and the one-out mark in the fifth.
Garza was pulled after five innings, tossing 90 pitches (60 strikes). In addition to Galvis' home run, Garza allowed two singles — by rookie right fielder Nick Williams and catcher Andrew Knapp — walked three, and struck out four.
Garza's replacement in the sixth, right-hander Carlos Torres, struggled in making his 29th career appearance against the Phillies. Third baseman Maikel Franco and left fielder Daniel Nava began the frame with a single and double, respectively. First baseman Tommy Joseph then followed with a double off the center field wall, scoring both runners to give the Phillies a 4-1 lead.
A much-needed two-run double for Joseph. It's only the 2nd time since June 23 — a span of 21 games — he's had a multi-RBI game. #Phillies
— Meghan Montemurro (@M_Montemurro) July 22, 2017
Four batters later, with one out and the bases loaded, Hernandez walked off Torres. Facing newly-entered reliever RHP Rob Scahill, Galvis hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Herrera from third and give the Phillies a five-run advantage.
Nola ended his outing with seven innings of one-run baseball on 96 pitches (61 strikes). He struck out nine batters, which ties a career-high last matched on July 8 against the San Diego Padres. Reliever Pat Neshek threw a scoreless eighth inning, marking his 40th scoreless outing in 42 appearances overall this season.
Neshek has now thrown 22 straight scoreless appearances (20 2/3 innings) at home, the most by a Phillies reliever to start a season since 1913.
Infielder/outfielder Howie Kendrick made a pinch-hit appearance with two outs in the bottom of the eighth and singled to raise his season average to .354. Kendrick was activated off the 10-day disabled list prior to the game, recovered from a left hamstring strain.
Right-hander Hector Neris tossed a scoreless ninth, securing the Phillies their 33rd win of the season.
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matt Garza | 5.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3.83 |
| Aaron Nola | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 3.38 |
Brewers
- Jonathan Villar: 1-3, 2B, BB, SO, .223 AVG
- Domingo Santana: 2-4, 2 SO, .292 AVG
- Brett Phillips: 1-3, R, HR, RBI, .227 AVG
Phillies
- Freddy Galvis: 1-4, R, HR, 3 RBI, SO, .251 AVG
- Daniel Nava: 1-2, R, 2B, BB, .303 AVG
- Tommy Joseph: 1-4, R, 2B, 2 RBI, SO, .249 AVG
Brewers
- RHP Carlos Torres (6th): 0.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, SO, 4.65 ERA
- RHP Rob Scahill (6th, 7th): 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 4.43 ERA
- LHP Josh Hader (8th): 1.0 IP, H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 1.20 ERA
Phillies
- RHP Pat Neshek (8th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 1.14 ERA
- RHP Hector Neris (9th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, SO, 3.21 ERA
- Saturday, July 22, 2017: vs. Milwaukee Brewers, 7:05 p.m.
- Citizens Bank Park
- LHP Brent Suter (1-1, 3.09 ERA) vs. RHP Jeremy Hellickson (6-5, 4.44 ERA)
- TV: NBC10; Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
