PHILADELPHIA -- Christian Yelich and Corbin Burnes are fully hitting their stride at the perfect time for a Brewers club that is starting to make a habit out of halting red-hot opponents.

Yelich hit a three-run homer and finished a triple shy of a historic fourth cycle, while Burnes struck out 10 over eight scoreless innings in the Brewers' 4-0 win over the Phillies on Thursday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park. Milwaukee has won six of its past seven contests to remain 2 1/2 games ahead of the Reds in the National League Central.

“We're playing all aspects of the game pretty well -- swinging the bat, throwing the ball, good defense, bullpen has been great,” Burnes said. “If we can keep doing what we're doing, I don't think it really matters who we're going to play. If we can go out there and play the good baseball that we can play, then we'll have a good chance.”

By winning two of three in Philadelphia, the Brewers also remained unbeaten in their past seven series (six wins, one tie). They haven't dropped a set since June 19-21 against the D-backs -- and it hasn't been an easy stretch by any means.

The Phillies had won three straight games entering this week's series and they came in with the second-best record in the Majors dating to June 3 (26-10). Prior to this series, the Brewers took five of six against a Reds team that had previously won five in a row and 20 of its past 24.

But Milwaukee has more than held its own, thanks in large part to Burnes, who followed up his season-high 13-strikeout performance his last time out by stifling a Phillies lineup that began the day averaging six runs per game in July. Burnes didn't allow a baserunner until the fourth inning and never allowed a Phillie to reach third base.

“Being himself; he's good,” said Phillies shortstop Trea Turner when asked what made Burnes nearly unhittable. “He's got a bunch of plus pitches and he can really command them. He gets ahead of guys. When he gets to two strikes, it's tough because he can kind of take advantage and be aggressive."

Burnes racked up 10 strikeouts while yielding just two hits and one walk. He improved to 4-0 with a 1.33 ERA in four July starts, all while striking out 36 batters over 27 innings.

Not only have three of those four outings been against fellow NL postseason contenders (two vs. the Reds and one vs. the Phillies), but the latest came just three days after the Brewers abruptly placed Wade Miley on the IL due to left elbow discomfort. With Brandon Woodruff also still at least a few weeks away from rejoining the rotation, Burnes’ rediscovered dominance couldn’t have come at a better time.

“He's pitching really well right now,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “The thing is, he's capable of doing this. He's capable of going on runs like this. And he's done it at a really good time for us.”

Though Burnes faced little opposition through eight innings, Counsell said he didn’t give any thought to letting his ace go back out for the ninth. Burnes, who threw 100 pitches, has never thrown a complete game, let alone a shutout.

But he wasn’t the only one to come up just shy of a milestone on Thursday.

Yelich, who has three career cycles, lined out to left-center field in the seventh inning in his attempt to become the first player in AL/NL history to hit for the cycle four times.

So was it on his mind?

“Oh yeah,” Yelich said with a smile. “You'd be lying if you said you didn't know that stuff.”

Despite falling short of the cycle, Yelich is hitting .349 with five homers, 21 RBIs and a 1.070 OPS over his past 20 games. His three-run homer on Thursday marked his third in the past five games and his fifth in 14 July games. He hit just two home runs in June -- and only six over 52 games in May and June combined.

Yelich’s surge has helped the Brewers navigate a brutal stretch, but it doesn’t get any easier with the MLB-leading Braves coming to town on Friday.

“We've been playing really good teams, especially after the break -- the Reds, these guys, the Braves coming up,” Yelich said. “So you have to play well or it's going to be a tough stretch for you. We've got to keep doing it. Big stretch coming up for us.”