Major League Baseball

Phillies 6, Indians 2

Published May. 15, 2013 3:59 a.m. ET

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With each start, Jonathan Pettibone is building a strong case to stay in the majors.

Pettibone pitched neatly into the seventh, Kevin Frandsen and Domonic Brown hit solo homers and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cleveland Indians 6-2 on Tuesday night.

John Mayberry Jr. had three hits and three RBIs, including a go-ahead two-run double for the Phillies, who won their third straight game to get within two games of .500.

Pettibone (3-0) allowed two runs and four hits in 6 2-3 innings, the longest of his five career starts. Three relievers got the next four outs and Jonathan Papelbon finished in a non-save situation after Philadelphia tacked on two runs in the eighth.

Pettibone, a 22-year-old righty, came up from Triple-A when John Lannan went on the disabled list. With Roy Halladay now out indefinitely, Pettibone isn't going anywhere, especially if he keeps pitching like this.

''He does a tremendous job,'' manager Charlie Manuel said. ''He pitched a good game, kept his composure, stayed focused on what he was doing.''

The Phillies improved to 12-4 when Pettibone, Kyle Kendrick or Lannan start. They're 7-16 in games started by the $64.5 million trio of Cole Hamels, Halladay and Cliff Lee.

''My first start, I didn't get any sleep the night before,'' said Pettibone, who lowered his ERA to 3.41. ''Now I can get a full night's sleep. You just build confidence and try to build off each start.''

Cleveland's Scott Kazmir (2-2) gave up four runs and six hits in five-plus innings.

The Indians had won seven of nine. They swept a two-game series at home against the Phillies two weeks ago, outscoring them 20-2.

''I thought he did a good job, unfortunately,'' Indians manager Terry Francona said of Pettibone. ''When he needed to, he got a double play. He kept us off balance. I thought he pitched a pretty good game.''

Brown got Philadelphia's rally going in the fourth by lining a one-out single. Carlos Ruiz then walked to bring up Mayberry. He ripped a two-run double to left-center to put the Phillies up 3-2.

Brown roped his seventh homer into the right-field seats to make it 4-2 in the sixth. Since Brown hit a three-run homer against the New York Mets on April 27, the team's last 16 homers have been solo shots.

''I think it's a matter of time and we can end up having a good offense,'' Manuel said.

Mayberry and Freddy Galvis had RBI singles in the eighth.

Frandsen hit a 1-2 pitch into the flower bed just beyond the left-field wall to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead in the first.

''They really took it to us,'' Frandsen said, recalling the previous interleague meeting. ''They just kicked our butt. You don't want to be embarrassed and we felt we got embarrassed there. It's a big win tonight.''

Nick Swisher led off the second with a single and Carlos Santana followed with an opposite-field double down the left-field line. After Mark Reynolds popped out to shallow right, Michael Brantley hit a two-run single up the middle off a 1-2 pitch.

Asdrubal Cabrera led off the eighth with a triple off Antonio Bastardo, but was stranded. Bastardo struck out Nick Swisher looking. After Santana walked, Justin De Fratus entered and retired Reynolds on an infield pop. Jeremy Horst then came in and fanned Brantley to end the inning.

Pettibone had location issues in the third when he loaded the bases on a walk and hit consecutive batters. But he retired Reynolds on a pop-up to escape the jam.

The surprising Indians, coming off a 68-94 season, are 21-17 under first-year manager Terry Francona, who managed the Phillies to four losing seasons from 1997-2000 before leading Boston to two World Series titles in 2004 and 2007.

NOTES: Kazmir hit Frandsen twice. Frandsen, who started to give Chase Utley a day off, is 7 for 15 with two homers and four RBIs against lefties. ... The Indians are 0-4 at Citizens Bank Park. ... Cleveland's starters are 11-4 in the last 17 games. ... Philadelphia is 14-4 when scoring at least four runs. .... Hamels (1-5, 4.18) faces Cory Kluber (2-2, 5.64) Wednesday afternoon. The Phillies are 1-7 in Hamels' starts this season.

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Follow Rob Maaddi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RobMaaddi

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