Brandon Marsh’s hot hitting leads Phillies to a back-and-forth 10-8 win over the Brewers

MILWAUKEE — When Brandon Marsh walked off the field after being tagged out in the ninth inning, Phillies manager Rob Thomson could tell he was frustrated with himself.

Marsh had already driven in the go-ahead run with his fourth hit of the game against the Milwaukee Brewers, and the Phillies had added an insurance run on a bloop single from Harrison Bader. But Marsh tried to advance from first to third on the hit, and wasn’t able to beat the throw from right fielder Sal Frelick.

“You just got to go out and play good defense,” Thomson told him.

So when Frelick lifted a fly ball to shallow left in the bottom of the ninth, Marsh charged in to make the play. He helped Jhoan Duran preserve a clean inning for his 25th save of the year, and as the Phillies celebrated their 10-8 victory over the Brewers, the tag play had been long forgotten.

“That was a huge game for us,” Marsh said. “Coming here and taking one in this atmosphere, in this ballpark. And we just got to carry that momentum into Wednesday.”

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In a back-and-forth heavyweight battle between two divisional leaders, the Phillies kept picking each other up. The offense picked up starter Taijuan Walker, whose velocity trended down a tick as Milwaukee tagged him for five runs over four innings.

“He had 55 pitches after two. That’s a lot,” Thomson said. “But he grinded and he gave us four innings, kind of settled in after the second. He’s a gamer, man. He fights and he claws.”

Until Marsh’s ninth-inning single, which turned out to be the decisive blow, the Brewers wouldn’t go away. Each time it looked like the Phillies had Milwaukee on the ropes, they came roaring back.

After trailing early, the Phillies fought back to take a 6-5 lead with a three-run sixth inning on an RBI double from Bader and two consecutive sacrifice flies. But Milwaukee capitalized on two walks and an error from second baseman Bryson Stott to tie things up right away. It was Stott’s first error since April 20.

“The Stott error, my jaw dropped,” Thomson said. “Because you don’t see that. He’s just so good.”

Stott made up for it in the eighth. He and Bader both hit RBI doubles as the Phillies jumped in front once more, 8-6. But again, the Brewers fought back.

David Robertson struck out the first two batters he faced in the eighth, but Milwaukee loaded the bases with two walks and a single. Pinch-hitter Isaac Collins hit a single that got by shortstop Trea Turner and into left field to drive in two runs and tie the score at 8.

“It just kept going on and on and on,” Thomson said. “Third hitter put a really good at-bat on him, and then it just kind of snowballed from there. But at least he got out of it with a tie.”

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And yet again, the Phillies’ batters picked up their teammate. Kyle Schwarber led off the ninth inning with a walk. J.T. Realmuto also drew a walk after first base umpire Jim Wolf ruled he had checked his swing on a full count, bringing Marsh to the plate. Brewers manager Pat Murphy was ejected for arguing the call.

Garrett Stubbs scored the go-ahead run on Marsh’s single in the ninth, pinch-running for Schwarber, and the Phillies took down the team with the best record in baseball.

“A lot of times it’s certain guys, and then it might be that day where it’s not those other guys, and someone has to come in and pick it up,” said Bader, who finished 3-for-5. “And I think knowing that we have the ability to do that, should give us a lot of confidence going into every day.”

Tim Mayza made his Phillies debut in the fifth, and pitched a 1-2-3 inning in his first game action since April 18. Mayza had been on the injured list since then with a left shoulder strain, but made four rehab appearances before the Phillies claimed him from the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday.

Realmuto was hit by a pitch and was also checked by trainers after getting hit by a foul ball in the eighth. Thomson said he was “good” after the game.