MILWAUKEE — Jake Arrieta pitched a gem in leading the Phillies to their third straight victory Saturday afternoon.
The 7-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park pushed the Phils’ record to a season-high 10 games over .500. They are 31-21.
The Phils have played two top teams, the Cubs and Brewers, on this road trip and they are 4-2 with one game to play.
Arrieta pitched eight innings of two-run ball. He struck out eight and walked just one. Andrew McCutchen, Cesar Hernandez, Rhys Hoskins and J.T. Realmuto all homered to lead a 12-hit attack.
The keys
• Arrieta was brilliant. He delivered a vintage Arrieta performance in his 19th career start against the Brewers.
MLB
• The Phillies established themselves early when McCutchen hit the second pitch of the game high over the center-field wall for his eighth homer. McCutchen is locked in at the plate. He has 12 hits, seven for extra bases, and nine RBIs in his last seven games.
• For the second night in a row and umpteenth time this season, Realmuto made a big defensive play. From his knees, the Phillies’ catcher picked off Yasmani Grandal at first base in the second inning. The Brewers had put the first two runners on in that frame and Realmuto helped stop any potential damage.
• Hernandez made a couple of nice plays behind Arrieta at second base and he had a homer and an RBI single. He leads the Phillies with 58 hits and is hitting .340 in a 42-game stretch since April 10.
• The Phils have shown extra-base pop in the first two games of the series with six doubles and five homers.
Arrieta’s day
The right-hander had excellent life on his fastball and he kept his pitch count low. He retired 16 straight before losing his shutout bid on a homer to Mike Moustakas with two outs in the seventh. That was just the third hit that Arrieta allowed.
Arrieta had possibly his best fastball of the season. It had good sink and averaged 93 mph. It topped out at 95 mph. He threw 100 pitches, got 10 swinging strikes and 24 called strikes. Home plate umpire Mike Estabrook had a generous strike zone and Arrieta used it well. Brewers’ slugger Ryan Braun and manager Craig Counsell were both ejected for beefing with Estabrook.
Arrieta (5-4, 3.60) has delivered a quality start — six or more innings, three or fewer runs — in eight of 11 starts this season.
Transaction
Pat Neshek officially went on the injured list. Hard-throwing reliever J.D. Hammer was promoted from Triple A. Read about Hammer here.
Up next
Zach Eflin (5-4, 2.76) gets the ball in the final game of the series and the road trip on Sunday afternoon. Right-hander Brandon Woodruff (6-1, 3.51) pitches for the Brewers.
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