Franco’s three-double performance not enough as Phillies drop third straight

(Photo: Matt Rappa/Philliedelphia)

Final: Brewers 9, Phillies 5

WP: Kyle Lohse (5-9, 6.24 ERA) LP: Aaron Harang (4-11, 4.08 ERA)

Philadelphia, PA - Despite a big night at the plate from Phillies' third baseman Maikel Franco, in the first of two XFINITY Fireworks Show nights at Citizens Bank Park, starting pitcher Aaron Harang struggled yet again as he suffered his eighth consecutive defeat.

Milwaukee got out to a 6-0 lead, scoring two runs each in the first, third and fourth innings, before the Phillies' offense came alive.

With two outs in the top of the first, and second baseman Scooter Gennett on second after doubling for the fourth time of the season, first baseman Adam Lind went yard for the 158th time of his career (Brewers 2, Phillies 0).

After back-to-back singles from Lind and center fielder Carlos Gomez in the top of the third, third baseman Aramis Ramirez doubled to left to bring both runners home (Brewers 4, Phillies 0).

With runners on the corners and one out in the top of the fourth, right fielder and five-time All-Star Ryan Braun hit his 13th double of the year to clear the bases (Brewers 6, Phillies 0).

Philadelphia put a two-spot on the score board for themselves in the latter-half of the fourth inning. Franco and first baseman Ryan Howard doubled and singled respectively to start the frame. Three batters later, center fielder Odubel Herrera singled to right to score Franco. Shortstop Freddy Galvis followed with another RBI-single, which scored Howard from second base (Brewers 6, Phillies 2).

The Phillies are Brewers' pitching staff exchanged another two runs of scoring allowed in the top of the sixth and seventh innings respectively. These came from Gennett's two-RBI double for Milwaukee, and a RBI-triple and RBI-double for Hernandez and Franco for Philadelphia (Brewers 8, Phillies 4).

Craig Counsell's team added another insurance run in the top of the eighth, thanks to another clutch hit from Gennett. After left fielder Gerardo Parra singled to begin the inning, Gennett tripled for the second time this season for his third and final run-batted-in of the night (Brewers 9, Phillies 4).

Franco added to his already impressive night in the bottom of the ninth, doubling-home Hernandez. The Phillies were not able to put together a substantial rally, however, thus suffering yet another loss at their home ballpark (Brewers 9, Phillies 5).

Starting Pitchers

• Lohse: W; 98 pitches, 63 strikes; 4 groundouts, 7 flyouts; 30 faced batters
• Harang: L; 91 pitches, 64 strikes; 5 groundouts, 4 flyouts; 29 faced batters

Out of the 'Pen

Brewers

• Neal Cotts (7th): 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 3.86 ERA
• Jonathan Broxton (8th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR, 6.67 ERA
• Corey Knebel (9th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 2.95 ERA

Phillies

• Jake Diekman (6th, 7th): 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR, 5.22 ERA
• Elvis Araujo (8th): 1.0 IP. 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 3.54 ERA
• Jeanmar Gomez (9th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 1.62 ERA

At the Plate

Brewers

• Scooter Gennett: 3-5, 2 R, 2 2B, 3B, 3 RBI, .224 AVG
• Adam Lind: 2-5, 2 R, HR, 2 RBI, .294 AVG
• Aramis Ramirez: 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, .227 AVG

Phillies

• Cesar Hernandez: 1-5, 2 R, 3B, RBI, .274 AVG
• Maikel Franco: 3-4, R, 3 2B, 2 RBI, BB, .305 AVG
• Odubel Herrera: 2-4, 2B, RBI, .256 AVG

What's Next

Matt Rappa (@mattrappa) is managing editor of Philliedelphia.com.