Aaron Nola never had a chance to settle in, and the Phillies never found a way to stop the slide.
Philadelphia was blasted 12-1 by the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday night, a loss that pushed the Phillies into a season finale with their playoff fate still hanging in the balance. After entering September with a 6 1/2-game lead over Arizona for the third NL wild card, the Phillies have now dropped four straight and are suddenly down to the final day to try to secure a postseason spot.
The path is simple, if not comfortable: the Diamondbacks lost 10-7 at San Diego on Saturday night and sit one game behind Philadelphia, but Arizona owns the tiebreaker. That means the Phillies need either a win Sunday or an Arizona loss to lock up the final wild card.
Zack Wheeler gets the ball Sunday as Philadelphia tries to clinch its fifth straight playoff berth and avoid what would be the franchise’s worst collapse since 1964. The Phillies are 9-14 in September.
Saturday night turned ugly fast. Nola (7-12), working on two days’ rest, was tagged in the first inning and was gone after just one frame, with the Rays already up 3-0.
Junior Caminero set the tone with a two-run homer, his 42nd, and Richie Palacios added an RBI double. Caminero finished with 101 RBIs for the AL East champion Rays.
Palacios drove in four runs, and Victor Mesa Jr. recorded his first four-hit game.
Philadelphia’s bullpen didn’t provide any relief. The Phillies used six relievers, and José Alvarado drew heavy boos after giving up three runs in the fifth.
José Urquidy then surrendered three more in the sixth, stretching the Rays’ lead to 10-0 and sending a rainy crowd toward the exits. Some fans even showed up wearing brown paper bags over their heads.
The Rays also had to navigate a scare of their own. Starter Griffin Jax took a 104-mph line drive from Trea Turner off his lower back in the third inning and left the game.
Philadelphia had a runner on second with two outs when Turner ripped the ball, which caromed to shortstop Taylor Walls, who threw Turner out to end the inning. Steven Matz (6-6) came in and worked a scoreless inning.
The Phillies finally snapped a 21-inning scoreless streak on an unearned run in the seventh, but by then the damage was long done.
The Rays close out their season Sunday with right-hander Nick Martinez (15-5, 2.94 ERA) on the mound.
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