Phillies clinch NL wild card behind Wheeler for 5th straight playoff appearance with win over Rays

PHILADEPLHIA (AP) — Bryce Harper and Edmundo Sosa homered, and Zack Wheeler delivered like a Game 7 ace to bring the Philadelphia Phillies back from the brink of collapse and send them into the playoffs with a 7-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday that clinched the final National League wild-card berth.

Jhoan Duran struck out Nick Fortes to end it. The Phillies will play Game 1 in a best-of-three Wild Card Series on Tuesday in Atlanta.

The AL East champion Rays earned a postseason bye last week and will play the winner of the Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees series beginning Saturday. Jonny DeLuca homered twice for the Rays.

The Phillies could have clinched a playoff berth as early as Wednesday before they lost four straight games and nearly coughed up their wild-card lead to Arizona.

Bryson Stott had an RBI double in the first inning off Rays starter Nick Martinez (15-6) that seemed to ease some pressure off the Phillies.

J.T Realmuto snapped an 0-for-34 skid in the second with an RBI double and Kyle Schwarber ripped a two-run double and belly-flopped into second base. That made it 4-0 and got a rise out of the crowd on a rainy day at the ballpark.

Harper hit a solo shot and Sosa added a two-run drive in the fifth for a 7-1 lead. The Phillies had 12 hits.

Jesús Luzardo was activated off the injured list following a stint with left shoulder inflammation and threw only four pitches in a scoreless eighth. He pitched for the first time since he threw his first career shutout on Sept. 7 against Atlanta.

Wheeler (14-5) struck out five and allowed one run in six innings in a game interim manager Don Mattingly called a Game 7.

Philadelphia had a 6 1/2-game lead over Arizona for the third NL wild card on Sept. 1 before going into a tailspin that spurred painful memories of the 1964 season.

This year's Phillies were instead set to pop some bubbly.

The Phillies had won consecutive NL East titles and finished 96-66 last season. They finished this season behind Atlanta in the NL East and went 88-74. But they earned their fifth straight playoff appearance, tying the club record set from 2007-11 when they won five consecutive NL East titles.

The Rays rebounded from 77-85 last season to go 98-64.

Tampa Bay's Junior Caminero became the fourth player since the beginning of divisional play in 1969 to start 162 games at third base after Sal Bando (1969), Cal Ripken Jr. (1997) and Vinny Castilla (1998). Harper also played 162 games for the Phillies.

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