Jonathan Villar stayed hot, clubbing a two-run home run in the ninth inning Thursday night, leading the Milwaukee Brewers to a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.
Villar’s home run is his third this season and it gave the Brewers some breathing room after they entered the ninth inning with a 2-1 lead. Chris Carter also went deep for the Brewers, helping Chase Anderson win for the 3rd time (3-6) this season. Anderson pitched 5 2/3 solid innings.
Villar added a single and a walk, watching his on-base percentage improve to .409. He’s hitting .305 and has stolen a major league leading 19 bases.
Carter’s solo home run in the fourth is his 14th of the season, but first since May 20.
The Phillies only run came on Maikel Franco’s solo home run, his fourth in the last four games against the Brewers this season.
Anderson allowed a run on three hits, striking out six with no walks. Jeremy Jeffress notched his 14th save of the season.
The win is the second straight for the Brewers and seventh in the last ten games. At 25-29, the Brewers also climbed to within 4-games of the .500 mark.
Game two of the series is tonight. Jimmy Nelson gets the starting nod for the Brewers.