MILWAUKEE -- It turns out the old sparkplug still has a little juice.
Leading off for the first time since 2004, Michael Young went 3 for 5 and conspired with John Mayberry to produce six hits from the top two spots in the lineup. Tyler Cloyd did the rest for yet another quality start, and the Phillies opened a 10-game road trip with a 5-1 win in Milwaukee on Thursday (see Instant Replay).
The Phils (31-30) won for the fifth straight game and climbed over .500 for the first time this season.
Mayberry also went 3 for 5, Delmon Young homered and Cloyd worked into the seventh without surrendering a run, all helping the Phillies claim a relatively comfortable win.
"We're happy the hard work has started to pay off and we're starting to see it in the standings," Michael Young said. "I think we're very happy with our style of play right now. We're doing a good job on the bases, running aggressively, pushing the envelope. The bases is one of those places where you can create some energy for your team, and we're doing a good job of that right now."
A pair of infield singles ignited a first-inning rally that gave Cloyd some early support. The Phillies ultimately loaded the bases with no outs, then scored on Ryan Howard's laser-beam sacrifice fly to center and a wild pitch from Brewers starter Wily Peralta (4-7), who labored through five innings of work.
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"We caught a couple breaks with two infield hits, and Jimmy got a clean one," Young said, referring to the Jimmy Rollins' single to load the bases. "Their guy has great stuff and has a real bright future, but Tyler did really well. He limited the damage. Their big guys in the middle managed a couple singles, and that was about it."
Cloyd allowed four hits -- all singles -- in 6 2/3 innings of work. He worked around five walks and has allowed two runs or fewer in four of his five starts since subbing in for Roy Halladay. He was saddled with a hard-luck loss in his last start Saturday, also against the Brewers.
"We mixed up a lot, threw a lot of different sequences, different pitches to hitters," Cloyd said of facing the same team twice in a week. "I made little adjustments mechanics-wise, which has helped me keep the ball down. Obviously when the ball is down, you get a little more movement on pitches. The offspeed has been down in the zone and that's the biggest thing."
The Phillies weren't satisfied with the 2-0 lead after one, scoring in the second when Cloyd drew a walk and motored around from first base on Mayberry's RBI double. In the third, speed again played a role when Domonic Brown stole both second and third base, then came across when Erik Kratz beat the ball to first to avoid a double play. Brown, who registered his team-leading 20th multi-hit game, now has six stolen bases for the year after stealing five in his career heading into 2013.
"We're not going to steal a lot of pitches when pitchers are really quick to the plate and catchers throw good," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "We don't have a legit base-stealer where he can go when a pitcher's release is about 1.2 or 1.25 [seconds], definitely 1.3. When you start getting up into the 1.4s and [1.]5s and [1.]6s, they have a good chance of making it."
Delmon Young added his third home run in seven games in the fifth to afford the Phillies a 5-0 lead. Milwaukee's lone run came across against reliever Mike Adams in the eighth on an RBI groundout by Jonathan Lucroy.
Two of Michael Young's hits were of the infield variety, including one to lead off the game.
"[Manuel] asked me about it when I got here," Young said of batting leadoff. "He asked if I'd done it before, I said, 'Yeah.' It doesn't really matter to me. My approach is always dictated on the situation in the game.
"I know what I'm capable of — I just have to try and stay the course. I had a little bit of a rough stretch there, but I just have to keep at it and stay the course."
The Brewers, who have been beleaguered by ineffectiveness and injuries within their rotation, plan to start Alfredo Figaro and Tom Gorzelanny over the next two days. Both have spent the majority of the year in the bullpen and may not have a typical starter's pitch count to work with, meaning the Phillies could benefit from forcing the Brewers to take a full four innings of relief work Thursday.
"We've still got to come out and outplay them," Manuel said. "Sometimes in this game when things don't look so bright for you, something always happens. That's why you go play. You don't take anything for granted."