Phillies win fourth out of five games behind late rally

Phillies 8, Brewers 6

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- More than usual, players high-fived and pumped their fists. They jumped around, hugged each other and celebrated.

This was no ordinary win for the Philadelphia Phillies, having to rally from a four-run deficit against a bullpen that hadn't blown a lead after seven innings.

Pinch-hitter Wes Helms hit a tiebreaking single during a six-run eighth inning to lead the Phillies past the Milwaukee Brewers 8-6 on Monday night.

The NL-leading Brewers were 21-0 when leading after seven innings.

"A win like that can give you confidence," Helms said. "You beat the best. We didn't give up. Everybody contributed."

Pat Burrell hit a two-run homer, Chase Utley had a key two-run single and the Phillies won for the fourth time in five games. They're 14-9 since a 4-11 start.

"When we play games like this, it tells our team how good we can be," manager Charlie Manuel said. "It boils down to consistent play."

J.J. Hardy his NL-leading 12th homer and Johnny Estrada also connected for the Brewers.

Clay Condrey (1-0) pitched a scoreless eighth and Brett Myers finished for his fourth save in four chances.

Trailing 6-2, the Phillies loaded the bases against relievers Brian Shouse and Derrick Turnbow (1-1) with no outs in the eighth. Aaron Rowand singled and Shane Victorino doubled to chase Shouse. Turnbow came in and walked Jimmy Rollins. Turnbow's wild pitch forced in one run and Utley's two-run single cut it to 6-5.

After Burrell flied out to right field, Greg Dobbs and Abraham Nunez hit consecutive singles to right field to load the bases again. Carlos Ruiz followed with a grounder to first baseman Prince Fielder, but Utley beat the throw home to score the tying run.

Helms then singled off the right-field scoreboard to make it 7-6 and Rowand's sacrifice fly drove in an insurance run.

"You're going to have those days," Shouse said. "Everything's been going well for us. We'll bounce back."

Turnbow gave up four runs and four hits while recording only two outs.

Brewers starter Dave Bush allowed two runs and four hits in 5 1/3 innings.

"You try to keep nights like this to a minimum," Brewers manager Ned Yost said.

Jamie Moyer gave up five runs and nine hits in 6 1/3 innings for the Phillies. It was the first time Moyer didn't have a quality start -- three earned runs or less and six innings pitched or more -- in eight outings this year.

"Everybody is aware they're playing well," Moyer said. "It's nice to come back and beat that type of team."

Leading 2-1 in the fifth, Moyer ran into trouble with two outs. First, he walked Rickie Weeks to put two runners on. Moyer then made a bigger mistake by grooving an 0-2 pitch to Hardy, who lined it into the left-field seats to give the Brewers a 4-2 lead.

A second-round pick in 2001, Hardy never had more than 12 homers or hit higher .293 in the minors. He had nine homers and 50 RBIs in 372 at-bats his rookie year in 2005. Now he's emerged as one of the top shortstops in the league, joining Jose Reyes (Mets), Rollins, Edgar Renteria (Braves) and Hanley Ramirez (Marlins).

Bush didn't allow a hit until Utley singled with two outs in the fourth. Burrell followed with a two-run drive to right-center to give the Phillies a 2-1 lead. Burrell has three of his four homers since general manager Pat Gillick last Thursday blamed the team's early struggles on the middle of the lineup and the bullpen.

Burrell struck out against Matt Wise to leave runners on second and third in the sixth.

The Brewers extended their lead to 6-2 in the seventh on Fielder's RBI single and Bill Hall's sacrifice fly.

Estrada's homer to left leading off the second gave the Brewers a 1-0 lead.

Bush went down after Ruiz hit a liner off his left leg in the third inning, but stayed in and pitched effectively.

Game notes
The Phillies are 22-9 in their last 31 games against the NL Central. ... Rollins broke an 0-for-14 slide with a sixth-inning single. ... Utley has 26 RBIs in his last 23 games. ... The Phillies are 2-15 when trailing after seven innings.