Braun homers twice, Brewers bust out against Phillies 12-4

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Ryan Braun homered twice and drove in five runs, and the Milwaukee Brewers busted out of an offensive funk to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 12-4 on Friday night and snap a three-game losing streak.

Braun, who came in batting .229, hit a three-run shot off Vince Velasquez (4-7) in the first inning and a two-run blast off Mark Leiter Jr. in a six-run fourth that made it 11-0. Braun, making only his eighth start in 13 games since returning from a back injury, has 24 homers and 67 RBIs in 67 career games against the Phillies.

Christian Yelich also went deep and Lorenzo Cain added two hits and two RBIs for the Brewers, who had 13 hits after totaling four runs in their previous three games.

Jhoulys Chacin (5-1) allowed four runs and five hits in 6 1/3 innings for Milwaukee, which held onto a half-game lead over the Chicago Cubs atop the NL Central.

Carlos Santana hit a solo homer and added a sacrifice fly and Jesmuel Valentin drove in his first major league run for the Phillies, who have dropped three straight and nine of 12.

Velasquez retired the first two batters before issuing two walks and throwing a hanging curve to Braun. The right-hander allowed four straight two-out hits in the fourth, including consecutive RBI doubles by Jesus Aguilar and Travis Shaw.

Manager Gabe Kapler then drew mock cheers when he bounced out of the dugout to lift Velasquez, who was charged with 10 runs on nine hits.

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