Phillies hope homer gets Brown rolling again

SAN DIEGO -- Domonic Brown snapped a homerless streak Tuesday when he hit a three-run home run in a 6-2 victory over the Padres at Petco Park.

It was his first homer since June 8. In the 14 games between homers he had hit .192 (10-for-52) with three doubles, three RBIs, five walks, 15 strikeouts and a .509 on-base-plus-slugging percentage. That followed a remarkable 15-game stretch in which he hit .404 (23-for-57) with three doubles, one triple, 11 homers, 22 RBIs, four walks, 12 strikeouts and a 1.070 OPS.

Brown said a conversation with Phillies manager Charlie Manuel before Tuesday's game helped. Manuel deflected the credit to Brown.

"Dom really studies his hitting," he said. "He's learned that over the last year really. He really concentrates on his hitting. I think being around guys like [Chase] Utley and [Ryan] Howard and [Steve] Henderson and Wally [Joyner] … I talk to him a lot, but they spend time with him. He really puts his work in. I'm going to tell you something, he's come a long ways."

Brown is the eighth different Phillies player to hit 20 or more homers before July. At 25 years old, he is the youngest. Chuck Klein (1931), Mike Schmidt (1976) and Howard (2006) were 26.