09/25/20 09:38:00
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09/25 21:37 CDT Wendle's hit in 8th helps Rays ding Phillies' playoff hopes
Wendle's hit in 8th helps Rays ding Phillies' playoff hopes
By MARK DIDTLER
Associated Press
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) --- Joey Wendle had a go-ahead two-run single in the
eighth inning and the AL East champion Tampa Bay Rays rallied to hurt
Philadelphia's playoff hopes, beating the Phillies 6-4 on Friday night.
The Rays would clinch the top seed in the American League with an Oakland loss
later Friday night; the A's were hosting Seattle. Tampa Bay is looking to
finish with the AL's best record for the second time, after topping the league
in 2010.
"This team, we find ways to win," Rays manager Kevin Cash said.
Bryce Harper had a triple and drove in two runs for Philadelphia, which fell
two games behind second-place Miami in the NL East and also trailed in the
wide-open wild-card race.
"It's frustrating," Phillies manager Joe Girardi said. "We had a lead again and
weren't able to hold. Then we weren't able to tack on any runs after the fifth
inning. Their bullpen is outstanding and they came in and pretty much shut us
down. We weren't able to get any more runs and they were and that's the
difference."
Yoshi Tsutsdugo had one-out single in the eighth before Adam Morgan (0-1)
loaded the bases on consecutive walks to Hunter Renfroe and Brett Phillips.
Hctor Neris replaced Morgan and retired pinch-hitter Brandon Lowe on a pop
fly. Wendle followed with a liner to right that gave Tampa Bay a 5-3 advantage.
Wendle also made a nice running catch in the eighth, going from his second base
position to shallow right field near the foul line to snag a pop fly by Jean
Segura with a runner on first.
"I was probably surprised by the catch and pleased with the hit," Wendle said
Nick Anderson (2-1) worked a scoreless eighth and John Curtiss got the final
three outs for his second save.
Phillips tied it 4 on a solo shot off Tommy Hunter in the sixth. He put the
Rays up 1-0 with a run-scoring single during the second.
Alec Bohm drove in a run with a single before Harper had an RBI triple and
scored on shortstop Willy Adames' errant to throw to third as the Phillies took
a 3-1 lead in the third.
Harper made it 4-1 on a fifth-inning single against Charlie Morton.
Adames ended starter Vince Velasquez's night with a one-out RBI single in the
fifth. Kevin Kiermaier cut the deficit to 4-3 on a fielder's choice grounder
off Hunter.
"That's an inning I have to shut down," Velasquez said. "That's a shutdown
inning for me, for the whole team to kind of just continue that energy to carry
on. It's very frustrating I didn't really complete my job in that situation."
Morton gave up four runs --- all with two outs --- and seven hits over five
innings. Velasquez allowed three run and six hits in 4 1/3 innings.
ALEC ATTACK
Bohm went 2 for 4 and has 37 hits this month, and a hit in 16 of his last 18
games. He is hitting .463 (19 of 41) with runners in scoring position.
HONORS
Lowe was named the Rays' Don Zimmer MVP Award winner following a vote by media
covering the team. Right-hander Pete Fairbanks was selected as the Rays' top
rookie. Kiermaier received the Champion Award for professionalism on and off
the field.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Phillies: RHP Spencer Howard (right shoulder stiffness) was reinstated from the
10-day injured list.
Rays: INF Yandy Daz (right hamstring strain) and 1B Ji-Man Choi (left
hamstring strain) both faced live pitching, did defensive work and ran the
bases. Their status for the first round of the playoffs has not been determined.
UP NEXT
Phillies RHP Zack Wheeler (4-1) will start on Saturday night against Tampa Bay.
Curtiss (3-0) will be the opener for the Rays.
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