Clemens picks up Estevez and Rojas in wild 9th inning, Phils win to begin homestand

Clemens picks up Estevez and Rojas in wild 9th inning, Phils win to begin homestand originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Johan Rojas tracked it immediately off the bat.

He timed his leap perfectly.

Brandon Lowe‘s loud, dangerous fly ball found its way into the centerfielder’s glove, but only for a split-second before popping out and over the short wall for a game-tying, ninth-inning home run.

Rojas, who appeared to think he made the play, gazed at his glove in shock. The crowd of 39,511 quickly transitioned from cheers to groans. Second baseman Bryson Stott put his hands on his head and closer Carlos Estevez crouched in disbelief.

A half-inning later, none of it mattered. Kody Clemens picked up Estevez and Rojas and walked the Phillies off with a lefty-on-lefty, bases-loaded single in a 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Phillies filled the sacks on a single by Bryce Harper, a two-out infield single from Bryson Stott and a full-count walk by reserve infielder Buddy Kennedy in just his third plate appearance with the team.

The Phillies improved to 86-58 with 18 games left. They entered the night a game behind the Dodgers for the top record in the National League and continued to apply pressure. They also extended their lead to 3½ games over the idle Brewers for the 2-seed, which comes with a bye in the wild-card round. The teams meet next Monday through Wednesday and the Phillies would love to land in Milwaukee with a lead greater than the length of that three-game series.

It was a stellar night for the Phils’ pitching staff. Cristopher Sanchez, Orion Kerkering and Jeff Hoffman kept the Rays off the board through eight innings with no Tampa Bay player reaching scoring position until the top of the eighth.

Sanchez, who came up through the Rays’ system before the Phillies acquired him in November 2019, has a 3.33 ERA in a career-high 165 innings.

Despite the heavy workload, he’s shown no signs of fatigue, pitching to a 2.14 ERA in his last five starts. The Rays were no match for his changeup on Monday night.

The Phillies needed that sort of performance from Sanchez because the offensive futility from Sunday’s 10-1 clunker in Miami carried into the first game of this week’s homestand. The Phils had no hits until Kyle Schwarber blasted a solo home run to right-center to begin the bottom of the sixth. It was Schwarber’s 34th of the season and six in seven games this month.

The Phillies’ lineup is depleted without Alec Bohm, J.T. Realmuto, Austin Hays and Edmundo Sosa. Realmuto might be back this weekend and Sosa might be back Monday, but Bohm and Hays could remain on the injured list even when they’re eligible to return. Bohm still hasn’t been able to swing without pain and the Phillies need him to do so on consecutive days before bringing him back. Realmuto is still dealing with fluid in his left knee after fouling a pitch off it on Friday. Hays has a kidney infection that could sideline him throughout most of September. Sosa is experiencing back spasms.

Without them, the Phillies started six left-handed hitters on Monday: Schwarber, Harper, Stott, Brandon Marsh, Clemens and Garrett Stubbs. It makes them more susceptible against southpaws with Weston Wilson the lone threat off the bench, only increasing the importance of Clemens’ huge at-bat against the Rays.