When Joey Wendle smashed a grand slam on Sept. 17, 2017, at Citizens Bank Park, it seemed like the biggest hit that the Chester County (Pa.) native could possibly get against his hometown team.
But he found a way to top it Friday night.
With the Phillies needing to win as many games as possible in their biggest series in nine years to keep their playoff hopes alive, Wendle delivered a two-run single in the eighth inning against closer Hector Neris to give the Tampa Bay Rays a 6-4 victory at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla.
The Phillies led, 4-1, in the fifth inning. But in a familiar plot twist, their historically bad bullpen gave away the lead — with an assist from home-plate umpire Chris Conroy. It marked the eighth time this season that the Phillies fumbled away a three-run lead.
The bullpen, which entered with a 7.17 ERA, has enough trouble holding a lead. When it doesn’t get a close call on an apparent third strike, it makes things that much more difficult.
Tommy Hunter thought he froze Brett Phillips with a 94-mph sinker that clipped the inside corner with one out in the sixth inning, and the Phillies leading 4-3. Conroy didn’t see it that way. And on the next pitch, Phillips smashed another sinker 422 feet to straightaway center field for a game-tying home run.
It was the second big hit of the game for Phillips, an unlikely source of offense. He was 1 for 15 since the Rays acquired him in an Aug. 27 trade with the Kansas City Royals. But with two outs in the second inning, he stroked a two-strike curveball from Phillies starter Vince Velasquez into right field for an RBI single that gave the Rays a short-lived 1-0 lead.
The Phillies stormed back in the third inning against Charlie Morton, also known as the pitcher who got away. Morton blew out his hamstring after only four starts for the Phillies in 2016 and left via free agency. Since the start of the 2017 season, he has 47 wins, tied for sixth among all pitchers.
But Morton missed three weeks earlier this season with right shoulder inflammation and is still working his way back.
The Phillies got three runs against him in the third inning on back-to-back two-out hits by Alec Bohm and Bryce Harper, the hottest hitters in the lineup. Bohm, 19 for 41 with runners in scoring position this season, picked up another clutch hit with an RBI single before Harper drove him in with a triple and scored on a throwing error for a “Little League home run.”
The Phillies added another run in the fifth inning on an RBI single by Harper, marking the 10th consecutive plate appearance in which he reached base.
But the Rays’ formidable bullpen didn’t give up a run over the final four innings, which made the comeback possible.
———
©2020 The Philadelphia Inquirer
Visit The Philadelphia Inquirer at www.inquirer.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.