Brewers hold on to end skid at 6 games

PHILADELPHIA » Domingo Santana singled home the go-ahead run in the ninth inning after the Brewers blew a big lead, and Milwaukee beat Philadelphia 9-8 on Saturday night to snap a seasonworst six-game losing streak.

Ryan Braun homered and drove in four runs, and Travis Shaw also homered for the Brewers, who maintained a one-game lead over the Cubs in the NL Central.

Milwaukee led 8-1 after batting in the seventh and manager Craig Counsell removed Braun, who had missed the past three games with a wrist injury. The Phillies rallied to tie it with four runs in the seventh and three in the eighth.

Santana came through with a one-out single to left off Hector Neris (2-4) to score Hernan Perez and put Milwaukee back in front.

Showing no signs of discomfort, Braun scorched a single up the middle in his first at-bat. He put Milwaukee up 2-0 with a tworun double down the right-field line in the third, and his two-run homer in the fifth made it 6-0. For his career,

Braun is .379 with 22 homers and 61 RBIs in 65 games against the Phillies, including a .398 average in 30 games at Citizens Bank Park.

Jacob Barnes (3-1) gave up three runs on four hits in the eighth but ended up getting the win. Nick Williams and Odubel Herrera led off with singles and Cameron Rupp tied the game with a three-run homer to right.

Corey Knebel pitched a perfect ninth for his 17th save.

Herrera had four hits with a homer and a pair of doubles for Philadelphia, which had won three straight.

Brewers starter Brent Suter threw just 85 pitches in six innings, giving up one run, but Counsell replaced him with Oliver Drake, who gave up four runs on four hits, including Cesar Hernandez’s three-run homer.

The game was delayed 26 minutes at the start due to rain.

STOCK DOWN

Phillies starter Jeremy Hellickson may have damaged his trade value, allowing six runs on seven hits in five innings. The Phillies are likely to be sellers at the July 31 trade deadline, and the veteran righthander is one of their best assets.

But the Brewers hit him hard, especially in the third when they tallied four runs on four hits. All of the runs came with two outs.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Phillies: OF Daniel Nava was not in the lineup after injuring his left hamstring in the seventh inning on Friday night. OF Aaron Altherr could return as early as Tuesday from a right hamstring injury that was expected to sideline him for at least two more weeks.

UP NEXT

Phillies RHP Jerad Eickhoff (1-7, 4.83) takes the mound for Philadelphia against RHP Junior Guerra (1-3, 4.77) in Sunday’s series finale.