Of course there are still no illusions in the Phillies clubhouse. The Phillies are 14 games out of first place in the NL East and 91/2 games out of a wild-card berth with 63 to play.
"It shows we definitely haven't given up and have some ground to cover over the next few months, but have the type of guys in this clubhouse that are determined and want to win," said second baseman Chase Utley, who went 3 for 4 with two doubles and three RBIs, his first game of more than two RBIs since beginning his season on June 27.
The Phillies have been energized by the return of Utley, Ryan Howard, and Roy Halladay, not to mention by some awfully crazy wins.
"These last four games have been exciting, and you can see by the atmosphere that is being created again," said centerfielder Shane Victorino, who scored two runs in the win. "It's a fun team, and you can see the focus."
The four-game streak began with Sunday's 4-3 win in 12 innings over San Francisco, won on a walk-off hit by Rollins. Monday the Phillies won after scoring four runs in the ninth, and Tuesday they overcame a 6-1 deficit with six runs in the eighth.
Now this.
John Mayberry Jr. started the 10th-inning rally with a one-out walk against Francisco Rodriguez. Mayberry advanced to third on catcher Erik Kratz's second double of the day.
"I was looking for something hard against Rodriguez and just trying to put a barrel on it," Kratz said. "I wanted to win the game, but not win the game on one pitch."
The Phillies needed two more pitches to win, to Ruiz and Rollins, who hit an RBI single to right-center.
Early on, it looked like late-game theatrics wouldn't be necessary. The Phillies chased starter Marco Estrada with five runs in four innings and led by 5-1 through five.
Phillies starter Vance Worley wasn't his sharpest and allowed three runs and 10 hits in 51/3 innings.
Kyle Kendrick threw 12/3 scoreless innings, extending his career-best scoreless streak to 201/3 innings. It's the longest active streak of any major-league pitcher.
Antonio Bastardo couldn't duplicate the effort. He served up a two-run home run to Ryan Braun, his 28th, in the eighth, tying the score at 5. Bastardo has now surrendered six home runs, the same total he allowed all last season.
In the Brewers' ninth against Jonathan Papelbon, Corey Hart opened with a single and stole second. Rickie Weeks (4 for 4 with a home run) then singled to left, putting runners at the corners with no outs.
Then, in a bit of strange managing strategy by Ron Roenicke, catcher Martin Maldonado executed a safety-squeeze bunt that Papelbon fielded and threw to third, where Hart was tagged out. Papelbon then struck out Cody Ransom and got Norichika Aoki to end the inning on a grounder to second.
In the 10th, Ty Wigginton dropped a routine pop-up by Carlos Gomez for a two-base error, his second of the day.
Gomez scored on an Aramis Ramirez sacrifice fly to Utley in shallow right field.
Maybe before Sunday that may have deflated the Phillies, but they showed fight for the fourth straight game, giving a glimmer of hope that this season still might have some meaning after all.
Contact Marc Narducci at 856-779-3225 or mnarducci@phillynews.com, or follow on Twitter @sjnard
