MILWAUKEE _ It was bombs away yet again for the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night.
Opening the second half of the season in much the same fashion as they played the first, the Brewers took the lead on a three-run home run from Orlando Arcia in the second inning and then used a grand slam from Ryan Braun four batters later in an eventual 9-6 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies at Miller Park.
At 51-41, the Brewers moved to a season-best 10 games over .500. They maintained their 5{-game lead in the National League Central after the Cubs held off the Orioles, 9-8.
Starter Zach Davies, the beneficiary of that eight-run second, won his fourth consecutive outing and now has a career-high-tying 11 victories on the season. But he also issued a season-high five walks, with two of those coming around to score.
The right-hander got off to a rough start as Philadelphia doubled, singled twice and walked to grab a 2-0 lead before Davies was even able to record the game's first out.
Slow starts have been nothing new to Davies, whose first-inning ERA stands at an even 9.00 now after 19 starts.
His counterpart, Nick Pivetta, couldn't have been sharper by striking out the side in the first inning and the first four batters he faced overall before the bottom dropped out.
The trouble began when Domingo Santana doubled to left with one out in that second inning. Manny Pina and Keon Broxton followed with singles as the Brewers trimmed the deficit to 2-1.
That brought up Arcia, who sent his ninth homer of the season into Milwaukee's bullpen in left-center. Davies walked, Jonathan Villar singled and Eric Thames walked to load the bases for Braun, who crushed Pivetta's first offering off the scoreboard in center to balloon the advantage to 8-2.
It was the fourth grand slam of the season for the Brewers and the sixth of Braun's career, breaking a four-way tie for the all-time franchise lead with Cecil Cooper, John Jaha and Jeromy Burnitz.
It was Braun's first grand slam since Aug. 16, 2015, with that one also coming against the Phillies.
The eight-run inning tied a season high for Milwaukee, which last accomplished the feat in the fifth inning of an 11-4 victory over the New York Mets at Miller Park.
The beneficiary from that frame? Not surprisingly it was Davies, who entered the day with the second-best run support in the major leagues at 7.4 per game. He was handed a 9-0 lead with which to work in his previous outing, an 11-2 victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field on July 6.
Including the final three outs of the first inning, Davies retired 10 straight and faced the minimum over the second, third and fourth before losing his command in the fifth.
But Milwaukee's bullpen was solid behind Davies.
Carlos Torres recorded the final two outs of the sixth to strand a pair, then Jared Hughes, Josh Hader, Jacob Barnes and Corey Knebel combined to finish it out. Hader, Barnes and Knebel each struck out a pair, while Knebel saved his 15th game.
