The situation was clear for the Phillies: Win on Sunday afternoon and qualify for the playoffs. We can lament they didn’t take care of business earlier in the week, but on Sunday, Zack Wheeler and company took care of business, defeating the Rays 7-3, and earning the final spot in the National League’s playoff field.
It would have been preferable to have saved Wheeler for the playoffs, but if you needed one guy to start a must win game, there are few pitchers you’d rather have on the mound. And Wheeler delivered.
He struck out the side in the first, setting the tone, and while he didn’t continue that level of dominance the rest of the way, he kept the Rays in check. His final line: One run on five hits over six innings to earn his 14th win of the season.
After a few games of offensive ineptitude, it was nice to see the Phillies get on the board early on Sunday. Kyle Schwarber singled and was doubled home by Bryson Stott to give them an early 1-0.
They extended that lead in the second when J.T. Realmuto finally broke out of his hitless streak to drive in the team’s second run.
After a Trea Turner single, Schwarber blasted a double off the fence to put the Phillies up 4-0.
The bats quieted down for a few innings, and the Rays finally got on the board thanks to a Jonny DeLuca home run to start the fifth. Maybe the Phillies’ hitters needed that to snap them out of any sense of complacency, because they came back to life in the bottom of the innings.
Bryce Harper led off the frame with a home run.
After a Stott double, a ground out, and a Brandon Marsh sacrifice fly, Edmundo Sosa added another solo shot to make it 7-1.
Alex McFarlane relieved Wheeler and was a little shaky in the seventh, giving up two runs, including DeLuca’s second home run of the game. Get that out of your system, Alex!
I didn’t agree with the decision to use Jesus Luzardo in the eighth. My hope was he could be the game one playoff starter, and I didn’t like putting a guy fresh off the Injured List onto a mound that was clearly deteriorating due to the rainy conditions. Fortunately, the Rays, with nothing to play for, seemed content to just swing at anything, and Luzardo got through the inning in four pitches.
Jhoan Duran got the ninth, and despite it not being a save situation, it was perhaps his most important appearance of the year. Three easy outs later, and the Phillies’ ticket to the playoffs was punched.
I understand if you’re frustrated with the Phillies. But this is a franchise that recently missed the playoffs ten straight years. I can’t turn up my nose at playoff spots, no matter how narrowly they made it.
Besides, everything that happened in the regular season doesn’t really matter. When they take the field in Atlanta on Tuesday, it doesn’t matter that they barely made the playoffs. Maybe the Phillies don’t inspire anyone with much confidence that they’ll make much noise in the postseason, but who knows? You can’t win the World Series without making the playoffs, and the Phillies at least have a chance now.
See you on Tuesday!
