MILWAUKEE -- Maikel Franco drove in two runs and Odubel Herrera hit his seventh home run of the season. However, Nick Pivetta surrendered eight runs in the second inning as the Phillies opened the second half with a 9-6 loss to the NL Central-leading Brewers Friday night at Miller Park.
Franco finished with four hits, while rightfielder Aaron Altherr added two but had to leave the game after his fifth-inning double with a mild strain of his right hamstring.
Altherr got the Phillies off to a quick start, opening the game with a double off Brewers right-hander Zach Davies. He moved to third on a single by Freddy Galvis and then scored on Franco's first hit of the day to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead.
Nick Williams made it a 2-0 game with a sac fly to center before Davies escaped. Pivetta struck out his first four batters before giving up a double to Domingo Santana with one out in the second.
He'd face eight more Brewers batters before retiring his next out. Keon Broxton put the Brewers on the board with an RBI single during that stretch and Orlando Arcia put Milwaukee in front with a three-home run.
Pivetta followed by walking Davies then allowed a single to Jonathan Villar and a walk to Eric Thames. That loaded the bases for Ryan Braun, who crushed Pivetta's first offering to straight away center for his sixth career grand slam and 11th home run of the season.
The Phillies cut the deficit to 8-4 with a pair of runs in the fifth.
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Entering the bottom of the inning having retired nine in a row since Braun's grand slam, Pivetta walked Travis Shaw with one out and Santana followed with a ground-rule double that put runners at second and third for Manny Pina, who made it a 9-5 game with a sac fly to center.
Again, the Phillies answered with two in the sixth on Herrera's home run but couldn't get any closer against the Brewers' bullpen, which put up zeroes for the final 3 2/3 innings.
