Clemens brings down Estevez, Rojas in wild 9th inning, Phils win to start home games originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Johan Rojas got it right away.
He jumped at just the right moment.
Brandon Lowe’s hard, dangerous ball found its way into the center fielder’s glove, but it lasted only a fraction of a second. Then it flew over the short wall for a ninth-inning home run that tied the game.
Rojas, who seemed to think he had made the play, looked at his glove in shock. The crowd of 39,511 quickly went from cheering to groans. Second baseman Bryson Stott put his hands on his head and closer Carlos Estevez crouched in disbelief.
Half an inning later, none of it mattered. Kody Clemens picked up Estevez and Rojas and walked the Phillies away with a lefty-on-lefty, bases-loaded single in a 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Phillies filled the sacks with a single by Bryce Harper, a two-out infield single by Bryson Stott and a full-count walk by reserve infielder Buddy Kennedy in only his third at bat for the team.
The Phillies improved to 86-58 with 18 games remaining. They entered the night a game behind the Dodgers for the National League’s best record and kept the pressure on. They also extended their lead to 3½ games over the idle Brewers for the two-seed, which comes with a bye in the wild-card round. The teams meet next Monday through Wednesday, and the Phillies would like to land in Milwaukee with a lead greater than the length of that three-game series.
It was a great night for the Phils pitching staff. Cristopher Sanchez, Orion Kerkering and Jeff Hoffman held the Rays off the scoreboard for eight innings, with no Tampa Bay player reaching scoring position until the eighth inning.
Sanchez, who rose through the Rays’ system before being acquired by the Phillies in November 2019, has a personal-best 3.33 ERA in 165 innings.
Despite the heavy workload, he has shown no signs of fatigue, posting a 2.14 ERA in his last five starts. The Rays were no match for his changeup Monday night.
The Phillies needed that kind of performance from Sanchez, because the offensive futility of Sunday’s 10-1 failure at Miami carried over into the first game of this week’s homestand. The Phils were hitless until Kyle Schwarber hit a solo home run to right-center field to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning. It was Schwarber’s 34th of the season and six in seven games this month.
The Phillies’ lineup is depleted without Alec Bohm, JT Realmuto, Austin Hays and Edmundo Sosa. Realmuto may be back this weekend and Sosa may be back Monday, but Bohm and Hays could remain on the injured list even if they are eligible to return. Bohm still hasn’t been able to hit without pain, and the Phillies need him to do that on consecutive days before bringing him back. Realmuto is still nursing fluid in his left knee after fouling out on Friday. Hays has a kidney infection that could sideline him for most of September. Sosa is dealing with back spasms.
Without them, the Phillies started Monday with six left-handed hitters: Schwarber, Harper, Stott, Brandon Marsh, Clemens and Garrett Stubbs. It leaves them more vulnerable to lefties with Weston Wilson the lone threat off the bench, making Clemens’ huge outing against the Rays all the more significant.
