After pitching their way to a victory in the July 4 series opener, the Phillies slugged their way to a series win over the Rays Wednesday night at Tropicana Field.
The Phils beat the Rays, 8-4, and are just the second team all season to win a road series in Tampa. The only other home series the Rays lost was to the Astros the final week of April, just before the Phils went to Houston.
The Phillies strung four hits together in three separate innings — the second, third and fifth. All three times, they came back to tie or take a lead after the Rays had scored.
J.T. Realmuto had three hits and Bryson Stott had four. Trea Turner, Bryce Harper and Alec Bohm also had multi-hit games. Turner's ninth home run of the season tied the game in the fifth inning, and four batters later, Stott singled in Realmuto to put the Phillies ahead for good.
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"Last night we got great pitching and tonight we got great hitting, clutch hitting," manager Rob Thomson said after the Phils scored five of their eight runs with two outs. "Up and down the lineup, we swung the bats really well."
Stott is hitting .304 after the 4-for-5 night.
Nick Castellanos added a solo shot in the sixth inning, his third home run in four games and fourth in the last seven. The Phillies' lone All-Star representative has driven in 19 runs in his last 19 games.
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Taijuan Walker pitched well again despite a challenging assignment. He allowed four runs over seven innings to the best lineup in the American League and two of those runs scored on a softly hit, jam-job double that fell in between shortstop, left and center field in the first inning.
Walker struck out eight and walked five but induced three double plays. He also didn't allow a hit to the final 14 batters he faced.
"It really could have been a lot worse," he said. "Five walks is not something I want to do, especially against a team like this that can score at will. I’ve got to give it to the offense — I didn’t get those shutdown innings early but they stayed with it and kept putting up runs, and by the end of the game I was able to put those shutdown innings up."
Walker has won six straight starts and the Phillies are 13-3 in his last 16. He ends his first half 10-3 with a 4.02 ERA. He has been one of their most important players.
These haven't been a bunch of cupcake matchups, either. Walker has faced the Rays in Tampa, the Braves in Atlanta, the Dodgers home and away, the Rockies at Coors Field, the Yankees at Yankee Stadium, the Giants in San Francisco, the Red Sox at home and the Reds twice.
"He was great," Stott said of Walker. "You know he’s going to go after hitters and keep you involved. When he throws that splitter and when it’s on, it’s really good. And when it’s not on, it’s still really good. I think the splitter is the best pitch in the league and he’s got a really good one."
The Phillies are 46-39 with four games left before the All-Star break. They're currently the third National League wild card, the same spot from which they made the playoffs in 2022.
The Phils faced an opener Wednesday night and the Rays haven't yet named a starter for Thursday. It could be another opener. This is the right time to be facing Tampa Bay, which has lost four in a row and 10 of 16 in its worst stretch of the season and doesn't have Shane McClanahan (IL, back tightness) or Tyler Glasnow (starting this weekend) going in the series.
The Phillies send out No. 5 starter and former Ray Cristopher Sanchez for the finale. They've won 11 straight road games, their longest streak since 1976 and second-longest since 1889.
