Sloppy pitching, defense negate Turner's clutch HR

MILWAUKEE --The Phillies forged a four-run rally against the Brewers' vaunted bullpen in the top of the eighth inning on Friday night, only to give it all back on a costly error in the bottom of the inning en route to a crushing 7-5 loss at American Family Field.

With Philadelphia clinging to a one-run lead with two outs and the bases loaded, Owen Miller hit a grounder toward third off reliever Jeff Hoffman that appeared as if it would end the inning. But third baseman Alec Bohm misplayed the ball, allowing it to trickle up the left-field line as three runners came around to score to cap a wild rally for the Brewers, who collected two hits and two walks against the Phillies' bullpen before Bohm’s decisive error.

“It was a pretty easy play and I messed it up. It’s as simple as that,” Bohm said. “Everybody makes errors. It came at a bad time. It’s not the end of the world. It’s just a play I’m going to make most of the time -- probably every time. But I didn’t make it and that’s it.”

• Games remaining: at MIL (2), at SD (3), vs. MIA (3), vs. ATL (4), at STL (3), at ATL (3), vs. NYM (4), vs. PIT (3), at NYM (3)

• Standings update: Phillies hold a 2 1/2-game lead over the Cubs for the top NL Wild Card spot and they are 4 1/2 games clear of the Giants and D-backs.

Bohm said he was attempting to secure the ball and step on third for the final out of the inning, but he let the ball skip under his glove.

“I was running to the bag, but I missed the ball and lost us the game,” he said. “But we’ll come back tomorrow.”

Manager Rob Thomson said he has confidence that Bohm will quickly forget about the error.

“That guy’s been playing extremely well at third base. It’s just one of those things,” Thomson said. “He’s matured enough now. He’s beyond that. He was upset, but I don’t think it’s going to carry over.”

Bohm’s miscue came only after Philadelphia's bullpen struggled to record outs.

José Alvarado, who recently returned from his second stint on the injured list due to left elbow inflammation, gave up two hits and two walks while retiring just one of the five batters he faced.

“I’m not going to tell you that I feel the same as I did at the beginning of the season, but I’m happy that I see that the velocity is coming back and the aggressiveness is there,” Alvardo said through team interpreter Diego Ettedgui.

Alvarado appeared to struggle with his cutter.

“The cutter has always been a pretty good pitch for me,” he said. “It may not be as sharp as it usually is coming back from this injury, but I have no doubts with that pitch.”

Thomson said Alvarado lacked command of his pitches.

“He just didn’t throw many strikes tonight,” Thomson said. “He’s got to get a feel for his cutter. He just doesn’t have it right now.”

The Phillies’ struggles in the bottom of the eighth erased a lead they’d taken in the top half of the inning.

Brandon Marsh’s run-scoring single off Brewers reliever Joel Payamps cut Milwaukee’s lead to 3-2. Then, after Payamps retired Jake Cave and Kyle Schwarber, Milwaukee turned to All-Star closer Devin Williams to preserve the lead. But Trea Turner responded with his 20th homer, a towering three-run shot down the left-field line, to put the Phillies in front. Turner has homered in four consecutive games, his longest streak within a single season in his career.

“He’s got a lot of confidence right now,” Thomson said of Turner. “He’s in one of those grooves.”

Schwarber led off the game with his 38th homer of the season to give Zack Wheeler an early lead, but one messy inning proved costly for the ace right-hander who appeared to be well on his way to another stellar start through three innings.

But in the fourth, Wheeler gave up back-to-back singles to start the inning before retiring Sal Frelick on a deep fly to center that Marsh tracked down near the wall. Willy Adames followed with a three-run homer that traveled a Statcast-projected 430 feet to put the Brewers in front, 3-1.

Wheeler allowed four hits in the inning, but he rebounded to retire the side in the fifth and sixth while recording five strikeouts. He gave up three runs off five hits over six innings, and struck out 10 without a walk. Wheeler became just the third Phillies pitcher since 1900 with back-to-back games with at least 10 strikeouts and no walks, joining Cole Hamels and Curt Schilling.

Wheeler said he had good command of his pitches but failed to locate his sweeper -- resulting in the home run by Adames.

“It didn’t get all the way out to the outside corner like I wanted it to," Wheeler said. "He got me right there."

Despite the difficult loss, Thomson said he expects his team to rebound on Saturday.

“It doesn’t bother me,” he said. “I don’t worry about this club, because they fight.”