PHILADELPHIA — Zack Wheeler allowed one run over six innings and the Philadelphia Phillies clinched the National League’s final wild-card berth Sunday with a 7–3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays at Citizens Bank Park.
Bryce Harper and Edmundo Sosa homered for Philadelphia, which finished 88–74 and earned a fifth consecutive postseason appearance. The Phillies will visit Atlanta for a best-of-three Wild Card Series beginning Tuesday after ending a four-game losing streak on the last day of the regular season.
Philadelphia gave Wheeler an early cushion. Bryson Stott doubled home Kyle Schwarber with two outs in the first, and J.T. Realmuto added an RBI double in the second. Schwarber’s two-run double later in that inning stretched the lead to 4–0.
Wheeler struck out five without issuing a walk. His only run allowed came on Jonny DeLuca’s solo homer in the fifth, and Philadelphia answered with three runs in the bottom half to take control of the finale.
Harper opened that response with his 29th home run. Brandon Marsh supplied a sacrifice fly, and Sosa followed with his ninth homer to make it 7–1. Stott finished 3 for 3 with two doubles and a walk, while Schwarber had two hits and two RBIs.
Tampa Bay cut the deficit in the seventh. DeLuca hit his second solo homer of the afternoon, and Victor Mesa Jr. singled home Jorge Mateo against Alex McFarlane. The Rays did not score again.
Jesús Luzardo retired the side in the eighth, and Jhoan Duran struck out two in a scoreless ninth to finish the game. Tampa Bay starter Nick Martinez took the loss after allowing four runs in 2 2/3 innings.
The result settled a race Philadelphia had struggled to close. The Phillies had scored only three runs during their four consecutive defeats, turning the finale into a decisive test for a club that had held a four-game advantage over Arizona with five games remaining.
Wheeler had been lined up for the Wild Card Series opener before Philadelphia used him Sunday, according to MLB.com. The clinching start leaves the Phillies with pitching decisions to make for Atlanta, but it ensures those decisions will concern a postseason series.
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