Inside The Phillies

Philadelphia Phillies Survive Epic Blunder in Walk-Off Win Against Rays

The Philadelphia Phillies overcame a massive mistake in their wild win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

Tyler Maher

Sep 9, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies first base Kody Clemens is mobbed by his team.
Sep 9, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies first base Kody Clemens is mobbed by his team. / Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
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Monday night's wild contest between the Philadelphia Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays was one of the wackier ones in recent memory.

With the Rays in town for the start of a three-game series, the opener at Citizens Bank Park started off relatively quietly.

Cristopher Sanchez delivered six shutout innings for the Phillies, who finally got on the board with Kyle Schwarber's solo shot off Tyler Alexander in the bottom of the sixth.

Before his go-ahead bomb, the Phillie Phanatic had gone streaking in a desperate attempt to light a spark under his team's offense since they were being no-hit.

The always goofy Nick Castellanos even offered up his shirt when the Phanatic reached the outfield.

The bats quickly went back into hibernation after the blast, though, and the game continued without incident until the ninth inning.

Then, all hell broke loose.

Pinch-hitter Brandon Lowe greeted Philadelphia's closer, Carlos Estevez, with a long drive to deep center field. Johan Rojas raced back to the 409-foot marker, jumped at the wall and made an incredible catch.

Unfortunately, Rojas couldn't hang on, dropping the ball over the wall for a game-tying home run.

The young outfielder immediately slumped down on the ground in disbelief, just as stunned as the nearly 40,000 fans in attendance.

Fortunately for Rojas, his teammates picked him up.

Estevez got through the rest of the frame unscathed, giving the home team a chance to walk it off in the bottom of the ninth.

And that's exactly what they did.

With two outs and Bryce Harper on first, Bryson Stott singled to keep the inning alive. Manager Rob Thomson sent up Buddy Kennedy, the grandson of former Phillies player Don Money, to pinch-hit.

Kennedy worked a walk, loading the bases and setting the stage for Kody Clemens to be the hero.

Clemens came through, ripping a single to right field that scored Harper and gave the game the crazy conclusion it deserved.

Despite getting only five hits, Philadelphia emerged with a 2-1 win, improving to 86-58.

With the Atlanta Braves losing and the New York Mets winning on Monday, the Phillies' magic number to secure the NL East is down to 12.

Philadelphia will hope for an easier win on Tuesday behind Ranger Suarez (12-6, 2.90 ERA), who will face Taj Bradley (6-10, 4.40 ERA).

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Tyler Maher
TYLER MAHER

Tyler is a writer for Sports Illustrated's Inside the Phillies. He grew up in Massachusetts and is a huge Boston sports fan, especially the Red Sox. He went to Tufts University and played club baseball for the Jumbos. Since graduating, he has worked for MLB.com, The Game Day, FanDuel and Forbes. When he's not writing about baseball, he enjoys running, traveling, and playing fetch with his golden retriever.

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