ATLANTA -- Family is important to Brandon Phillips, and as he was rounding third base, sporting his "Paw Patrol" and "PJ Masks"-inspired cleats, he knew that his third-inning home run was for his son.
Phillips' son, Micah, turned 4 years old on Saturday, and he was happy to hit a homer on his son's birthday. The shot propelled the Braves to a 3-1 victory over the Brewers at SunTrust Park.
"I had the special cleats on today, and 'Paw Patrol' and 'PJ Masks' are his favorite cartoons," Phillips said. "For me to go deep on his birthday is a beautiful thing."
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Phillips homered in his third straight game to help extend Atlanta's win streak to four. He became the first Braves player to homer in three straight since Justin Upton did so in 2014. According to Statcast™, it went a projected 396 feet and left at an exit velocity of 101.6 mph into the left-field bullpen.
"He has been big all year and has hit a .300 average," Braves catcher Tyler Flowers said. "That is good out of your second baseman, and he always comes up with the big hits. There always seems to be a mix of guys that come up with the big hit."
Phillips has knocked six of his seven homers at SunTrust Park and is enjoying hitting into the smaller confines of it. Prior to this season, he had never gone deep in his home state. In 34 career at-bats at Turner Field, Phillips had 10 extra-base hits -- all doubles.
Last weekend against the Marlins, Phillips recorded back-to-back walk-off hits to capture the series.
"It feels good to play in front of my family and my friends," Phillips said. "To just being around my babies all the time feels good. I am just happy that the Braves gave me the opportunity to really come home and play in front of the hometown like this. Hopefully I can do it more than one year."
The Braves have played well in June and are 14-9 in the month, having scored 128 runs. Braves manager Brian Snitker hopes the team can keep it going as it heads out on the road following Sunday's game.
"It's been a good homestand and we played good baseball all up and down the lineup," Snitker said. "The bullpen, the starting pitching, and guys are just playing the game and expecting to win right now."