Tampa Bay @ Philadelphia preview
Citizens Bank Park
Last Meeting ( Sep 10, 2024 ) Tampa Bay 4, Philadelphia 9
The Philadelphia Phillies have a veteran roster filled with All-Stars, but lately, it's been rookies and role players who have carried the team to victories.
The Phillies go for a three-game sweep of the visiting Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday after a pair of exciting wins to open the series.
Philadelphia (87-58) began the week with a 2-1 win on Monday. Kody Clemens delivered the decisive hit, belting a walk-off single with two outs in the ninth.
Fast-forward to Tuesday and Clemens was in the mix again, this time with an eighth-inning double with the score tied at 4-4. The next hitter was Cal Stevenson, who hooked a two-run double into right field. Even Buddy Kennedy, a local product who recently joined the team, was in the middle of the decisive rallies on both Monday and Tuesday.
"It's been great. It's been that way for the last couple of years," Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson said of the impact made by youngsters and newcomers. "Guys come up because of injury or for whatever reason and they come through (for us). I think it's a testament to our clubhouse and how our veteran guys make the younger guys, or the new guys, feel comfortable and needed and wanted, and so they relax and just be themselves."
The Phillies' five-run rally in the eighth inning preceded a benches-clearing incident. Tampa Bay reliever Edwin Uceta drilled Nick Castellanos with a 96 mph sinker and was promptly ejected.
"Boys will be boys," summarized Thomson, while Rays manager Kevin Cash acknowledged that "ideally" his team would "move on and just get off the field" once the game got out of hand. Uceta was suspended three games Wednesday, pending an appeal.
Philadelphia looks to complete the sweep behind ace Zack Wheeler (14-6, 2.59 ERA), who is 4-1 with a 1.60 ERA since the start of August. Wheeler yielded one run and two hits in six innings Friday in a 16-2 win over the Miami Marlins.
"I'm just trying to go out there and just put up zeros and hope for the best. That's all I can do," said Wheeler.
Wheeler is 0-2 with a 4.91 ERA in three career starts against the Rays, the last coming in August 2021.
The Phillies have won eight of their past 10 games, but they may not have Kyle Schwarber available on Wednesday. The lefty slugger exited Tuesday's game with elbow discomfort after an awkward slide on the basepaths and is considered day-to-day.
Tampa Bay (71-74) has lost four of its past six games and will try to steady the ship behind Shane Baz (2-3, 3.27), who will be facing the Phillies for the first time.
The 25-year-old right-hander has allowed three runs or fewer in nine of his 10 starts this season. He was a hard-luck loser against the Baltimore Orioles on Friday, when he gave up two runs (one earned) and two hits in six innings against one of the best teams in baseball.
"I definitely won't complain about what Shane Baz did tonight. An outstanding effort on his part," Cash said after that outing.
On Wednesday, Baz will certainly try to contain Trea Turner, who hit a pair of two-run homers in Tuesday's contest, and Bryce Harper, who collected three doubles and a single.
Philadelphia is trying to reach 30 games over .500 for the first time this season. Citizens Bank Park will be rocking, at least if the past two nights are any indication.
"I've never played in an atmosphere like that," Stevenson said. "It's not even close."
--Field Level Media