The Phillies may have scuffled against the Nationals this past weekend at home, but they haven’t let that stop their momentum on the road, winning their eleventh straight road contest. Trea Turner and Nick Castellanos both homered, as the Phils pummeled the Rays 8-4.
Kyle Schwarber was a complete dud in the leadoff spot, going 0-6 and dragging his season-long batting average down to .185. Aside from Schwarber’s struggles everybody hit, with Turner, Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, Bryson Stott and Alec Bohm each racking up multiple hits. Castellanos, Darick Hall and Brandon Marsh also collected knocks, as the Phils collected 17 base hits in total. Harper, Stott and Realmuto all doubled, to go along with Turner and Castellanos’ homers, and Bohm, Stott and Marsh all stole a bag each in the Phils’ eleventh straight road victory.
On the mound Taijuan Walker was rock solid, tossing seven strong innings, surrendering four runs on seven hits and five walks. Walker pitched much better than his four earned runs indicates, as the Rays benefited from a lot of soft contact finding holes in the defense. Nevertheless, the Phillies’ marquee starting pitching signing earned his tenth win of the season. Gregory Soto and Jeff Hoffman each worked around a hit in scoreless frames to finish off a Rays team that has struggled mightily of late.
Their eleventh straight road win pushes the Phillies’ record up to 46-39 on the year, unfortunately still leaving them 11 games out of first place in the National League East. On the bright side, the Phillies are now in sole possession of the third wildcard spot, one game ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Phils will look to earn a series sweep tomorrow night when Cristopher Sánchez squares off against yet another Rays opener in the form of Shawn Armstrong.