Wendle's hit in 8th helps Rays ding Phillies' playoff hopes

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 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.

Bryce Harper had a triple and drove in two runs for Philadelphia, which started the day one game behind second-place Miami in the NL East and also trailed in the wide-open wild-card race.

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.

Héctor 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.

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.

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...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Wendle-s-hit-in-8th-helps-Rays-ding-Phillies-15598676.php