EditorsNote: minor edits
Joey Wendle's two-out, tiebreaking single in the eighth helped the Tampa Bay Rays damage the Philadelphia Phillies' playoff hopes with a 6-4 victory Friday in St. Petersburg, Fla.
The Rays (38-20) loaded the bases with one out against reliever Adam Morgan (0-1) in a 4-4 tie, and Hector Neris got a popout by pinch hitter Brandon Lowe. But Wendle rapped his second hit of the night -- a liner to right -- to score Yoshi Tsutsugo and Hunter Renfroe.
Rays starter Charlie Morton tossed his second straight five-inning outing, allowing seven hits and four runs (three earned) while fanning eight. Nick Anderson (2-1) pitched a scoreless eighth and John Curtiss struck out the side in the ninth for his second save.
Reserve outfielder Brett Phillips notched a homer and an RBI single in a rare start, and Randy Arozarena (double, run, stolen base) had two hits.
Chasing a wild-card berth, Philadelphia (28-30) turned to Vince Velasquez, who left after 4 1/3 innings after giving up six hits and three runs with six strikeouts.
Bryce Harper lashed a run-scoring triple and went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run, Scott Kingery was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs, and Alec Bohm had two hits for the Phillies.
Velasquez ran into trouble in the second inning after a one-out single by Kevin Kiermaier and a walk to Mike Brosseau. Phillips' liner to right scored Kiermaier as the home side took a 1-0 lead.
The Phillies responded quickly with a three-spot in the top of the third. Kingery singled, advanced on a groundout and moved to third on Morton's wild pitch before Bohm dropped a single into shallow right to tie it.
Harper then lined a triple into the right-field corner, and shortstop Willy Adames' throwing error on the hit skipped by Morton, covering third, to plate the hustling Harper for a 3-1 lead Phillies lead.
The Philadelphia superstar right fielder -- serving as the DH on Friday -- got to Morton again in the fifth with a two-out single to score Kingery again, giving the Phillies a 4-1 edge.
Tampa Bay chased Velasquez with three hits in the fifth, the last an RBI single by Adames.
Kiermaier made it 4-3 with a grounder to score Arozarena off reliever Tommy Hunter. Phillips tied it with a solo homer off Hunter to straightway center in the sixth -- his second on the year but first with the Rays.
--Field Level Media
