PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Aaron Nola struck out six in 7 1/3 innings, Kyle Schwarber homered and the Philadelphia Phillies moved a season-best 10 games over .500 with a 4-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night.
LISTEN: Game 2 of Milwaukee-Philadelphia on WKTY begins with pregame at 5:05 p.m. Wednesday. Tune in on 96.7 FM / 580 AM
Bryson Stott, Trea Turner and Alec Bohm each had two hits to help the defending NL champion Phillies improve to 52-42 with their fourth consecutive victory. Philadelphia began play a half-game out of a playoff spot. All nine Phillies starters had at least one hit.
“Overall, a great team win,” Nola said.
Andruw Monasterio had two hits and drove in a run for the NL Central-leading Brewers. Milwaukee had won four in a row.
“(Nola) threw strikes on the edge of the zone,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “There were a lot of strikes with off-speed. He kept us off balance.”
Nola (9-6) retired the first 14 batters, getting the second out in the fifth inning on Schwarber’s leaping catch against the left-field wall to rob Owen Miller of extra bases.
“Incredible,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said.
“Everyone is a little shocked,” Schwarber joked. “I guess that I can play left field.”
Raimel Tapia followed and reached on an infield single. Shortstop Turner was shifted up the middle, and he wasn’t able to throw out Tapia at first base after fielding the ball deep in the hole at short.
Monasterio got the Brewers on the board with a double off the center-field wall that scored Tapia, and Milwaukee pulled to 3-2 when Monasterio scored from second on Brice Turang’s grounder that was scored a hit and error on first baseman Darick Hall after Hall dropped the throw from second baseman Stott.
Nola took over from that point, retiring the next seven batters before Monasterio and Turang hit consecutive singles to lead off the eighth. He said one key to his success on the night was slowing down his delivery.
“He was really pitching his tail off tonight,” Schwarber said. “Classic Nola. He was pounding the zone, and the ball was moving tonight.”
Nola gave up five hits and walked none. Craig Kimbrel pitched around a pair of errors in the ninth for his 16th save.
“He’s been through it all,” Thomson said about his closer. “Unbelievable job for us this year.”
The Phillies gave Nola an early cushion with single runs off Julio Teheran (2-4) in each of the first three innings. Schwarber led off by driving the first pitch over the wall in left for his career-best fourth straight game with a homer. It was the 26th dinger of the season for Schwarber, who has 26 career leadoff homers and six this year.
Bohm’s RBI groundout in the second, and Nick Castellanos’ RBI single in the third made it 3-2.
After Milwaukee closed within a run, Stott hit an opposite-field, RBI single in the fifth to make it a two-run game.
With Nola lifted after 98 pitches with one out in the eighth, the Brewers cut it to 4-3 on Christian Yelich’s groundout off Gregory Soto.
MILLER SIGNED
Philadelphia signed first-round pick Aidan Miller, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound infielder from J.W. Mitchell High School in Trinity, Florida.
The 19-year-old Miller batted .385 with eight homers and 47 RBIs in 62 games this season in high school. He was the 27th overall pick.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Brewers: RHP Brandon Woodruff (right shoulder strain) is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment at High-A Wisconsin on Saturday. Woodruff last pitched April 7.
Phillies: Right-handed reliever Noah Song (back tightness) allowed two runs in 1 2/3 innings at Double-A Reading on Tuesday night.
UP NEXT
Brewers RHP Colin Rea (5-4, 4.71) opposes Phillies LHP Cristopher Sanchez (0-3, 3.26) on Wednesday night in the second contest of the three-game series.
TOP PHOTO: FILE – A Milwaukee Brewers mascot cheers in the empty stands during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2020, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)