It wasn’t the moon. But for a moment, it felt like it might be. Kyle Schwarber sent a baseball soaring. Alec Bohm rediscovered the home run trot he’d tucked away last September. And Nick Castellanos? He saved the biggest swing for last, blasting a three-run homer that turned a nail-biter into a no-doubter.
And tucked inside all that noise was Zack Wheeler, doing what he always seems to do — throwing seven innings of quietly brilliant baseball, giving the Phillies exactly what they needed, exactly when they needed it.
In the end, the Phillies rode those three homers and that Wheeler gem to an 8-4 win over the Rays on Tuesday night at Steinbrenner Field — and if that still sounds weird to you, don’t worry, you’re not alone.
But let’s talk about the moment everything shifted. The Phillies came to bat in the eighth clinging to a 3-2 lead that felt about as sturdy as a Popsicle stick. And then, four batters later, they’d piled up four hits, scored four runs, and turned the whole thing upside down. Castellanos delivered the exclamation point with a three-run shot that flipped a close game into a five-run cushion, sending Phillies fans in the sold-out crowd (yes, Tampa’s spring home sold out again) into celebration mode.
Schwarber got it started early, launching a 97-mph fastball from Drew Rasmussen over the left-field wall in the second inning to give the Phillies their first run. That homer was his fifth in the last seven games, and it also extended his on-base streak to 41 games — tying Pete Rose (1982) and Don Hurst (41 games) for the sixth longest streak in franchise history. Oh yeah, his 12 homers also lead the Majors.
A few batters later, it was Bohm’s turn. He sent a two-run homer into the night, his first since last September 20 — snapping a drought of 209 days. Not that anyone was counting. Well… except Alec Bohm.
By the end of the second inning, the Phillies were up 3-0. But the Rays didn’t go quietly. Yandy Díaz cut the lead to one with a two-run homer off Wheeler in the fourth. And for a few innings, that 3-2 score just hung there, stubbornly refusing to budge. Wheeler never flinched, retiring 11 of his final 12 batters, finishing with seven innings of four-hit, nine-strikeout baseball without issuing a walk.
But just as Díaz had sparked Tampa Bay, he also left them shorthanded. In the sixth, after an awkward swing left him grabbing at his right leg, Díaz exited the game mid-at-bat. Christopher Morel came off the bench to pinch-hit — and promptly flied out to end the inning.
And so it stayed 3-2… until the eighth inning arrived. That’s when the Phillies opened the inning with four straight hits against Mason Englert — Bryson Stott and Bryce Harper with back-to-back singles, Schwarber with an RBI single to push the lead to 4-2, and then Castellanos unleashing that three-run homer to blow it open.
Just like that, a white-knuckle game became a laugher.
And so the Phillies won for the seventh time in their last nine games. Schwarber kept reaching. Bohm finally homered. Castellanos had himself a night. And Wheeler, well, he just looked like Wheeler again.
Quotable
“That’s the game nowadays. Everybody wants home runs and all that stuff. I feel like when I go up trying to do that stuff, I never end up doing it. That’s not when I’m at my best. When I kind of stick within myself, what happened today is what can happen for me. I’m not going to go up there searching for home runs.” Alec Bohm, per MLB.com.
