PHILADELPHIA — Up until about a week ago, the Tampa Bay Rays had the best record in Major League Baseball. They started the season with 13 straight wins and they’ve been in the lead in the tough American League East Division all year.
The Rays have slowed down a bit though, and while they’re still a good team, they’ve come back to Earth and have been surpassed record-wise by the surging Atlanta Braves. The Philadelphia Phillies, who are third place in the National League East and 11 games behind the Braves, had the tall task of playing Tampa in Tropicana Field, where they were 34-10 heading into their three-game set.
Well, wouldn’t you know it? The Phillies became the first team in MLB to sweep the Tampa Bay Rays in 2023. And because they did it on the road, they’ve extended their road-winning streak to 12 games which is one game shy of the franchise record.
Locked On Phillies host Connor Thomas celebrated the sweep and the continuation of the road winning streak on the show's latest episode.
Thomas started things off by recapping Thursday’s extra-innings win for the Phillies, completing the sweep. “To go extra innings on the road and win a baseball game in today’s MLB is near impossible with the ghost runner.” But the Phillies did it. They scored two runs on back-to-back singles by Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner to take a 3-1 lead, and Matt Strahm got a game-ending double play after walking Yandy Diaz.
The series' first game was also by a score of 3-1 though it didn’t go into extra innings. In that contest, Aaron Nola faced off against former Phillie Zack Eflin, and both pitchers did well. Nola outdueled Eflin by pitching seven and a third innings compared to Eflin’s seven while only giving up one run to Eflin’s two. Nola also struck out 12.
The Phillies hit the ball a lot in the middle game, scoring eight runs and collecting 17 hits. The offense hit two home runs—Turner and Nick Castellanos—and three doubles—Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, and Bryson Stott. They won 8-4.
So what does this sweep mean for the Phillies? Well, it gives them bragging rights. No other team had swept the Rays up to this point, and they did it in Tropicana Field, which is a tall order for anyone.
Up next, the Phillies travel south and east to meet up with the Miami Marlins for three games before the All-Star break begins. Only two and a half games separate the two teams in the NL East standings and if the Phillies continue their hot play on the road, they could possibly make it into second place on Sunday.
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