ST PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – Joey Wendle had a two-run single in the eighth inning and the AL champion East Tampa Bay Rays rallied to hurt the playoff hopes of Philadelphia, beating the Phillies 6-4 Friday night
Rays would win the AHL seed with loss to Oakland later Friday night; the As’s were home to Seattle Tampa Bay looking to finish with the AL’s best record for the second time, after dominating the league in 2010
Bryce Harper hit a triple and led in two points for Philadelphia, who lost two games behind second-place Miami in the NL East and also trailed in the wild card race
“It’s frustrating,” said Phillies manager Joe Girardi “We had a lead again and couldn’t hold on Then we couldn’t tack any point after the fifth inning Their enclosure is exceptional and they came in and practically closed us off We couldn’t get any other races and they were and that’s the difference «
Yoshi Tsutsdugo had a single with a strikeout in the eighth before Adam Morgan (0-1) charged up goals in back-to-back runs against Hunter Renfroe and Brett Phillips
Héctor Neris replaced Morgan and retired hitter Brandon Lowe on a pop fly Wendle called with a right liner that gave Tampa Bay a 5-3 advantage
Wendle also had a nice run catch in the eighth, moving from his second baseline to shallow straight ground near the foul line to catch a Jean Segura pop fly with a runner first
Nick Anderson (2-1) worked a scoreless eighth and John Curtiss got the last three strikeouts for his second save
Phillips tied 4 on a solo shot from Tommy Hunter in the sixth He put the Rays ahead 1-0 with a single scoring in the second
Alec Bohm drove in a run with a single before Harper had a triple RBI and scored over wandering shortstop Willy Adames to throw in third as the Phillies took a 3-1 lead in third
Adames ended starter Vince Velasquez’s night with a single RBI one out in fifth Kevin Kiermaier reduced the deficit to 4-3 on the home ground of a Hunter defender
« It’s a run that I have to stop, » said Velasquez « It’s a stopping run for me, for the whole team to kind of keep that energy going to keep going It’s very frustrating to not having really finished my work in this situation «
Morton gave up four runs – all with two strikeouts – and seven hits in five innings Velasquez allowed three runs and six hits in 4 1/3 innings
Bohm has gone 2 for 4 and has 37 hits this month, and a success in 16 of his last 18 games He’s hitting 463 (19 of 41) with runners in goal position
Lowe was named the Rays ‘Don Zimmer MVP winner following a media vote covering the team Right-hander Pete Fairbanks was selected as the Rays’ top rookie Kiermaier received the Champion award for his professionalism on and off the field
Spokes: INF Yandy Díaz (right hamstring tension) and 1B Ji-Man Choi (left hamstring tension) both faced the live throw, did some defensive work and ran for goals Their status for the first round of the playoffs has not been determined
Phillies RHP Zack Wheeler (4-1) will start Saturday night against Tampa Bay Curtiss (3-0) will be Rays’ game opener
Tampa Bay Rays, Philadelphia Phillies, Joey Wendle
World News – USA – Phillies playoff hopes take another huge blow with 6-4 loss to the Rays
