Phillies beat Rays 7-3 on Sunday to claim final NL wild-card spot

The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-3 on Sunday to clinch the final National League wild-card berth in Major League Baseball's postseason, a victory that also deprived the Arizona Diamondbacks of a comeback.

Philadelphia had been at risk of surrendering a comfortable wild-card lead after a late-season slide; the club could have clinched as early as Wednesday but then lost four straight games and nearly coughed up its margin to Arizona. “It was kind of a living hell in slow motion,” Phillies managing partner and CEO John Middleton said of the team’s nervy last week.

Key contributors on Sunday included Bryce Harper and Edmundo Sosa, who each homered, while Zack Wheeler produced an ace-like performance that helped pull the Phillies back from the brink and secure their place in the playoffs.

Texas were eliminated from postseason contention on the final day of the regular season when the Rangers lost 6-4 to the Minnesota Twins. Josh Bell hit a home run and finished with three RBIs, Dean Kremer permitted one run over seven innings, and Texas (80-82) needed a win and a Houston loss to the Athletics to stay alive; Houston, who held the division tiebreaker, were leading 8-0 in the eighth inning when the Rangers game ended.

The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox will receive primetime exposure in the American League first round. All three potential games in that AL first-round matchup, which begins Tuesday, will start at about 8pm ET and be televised by NBC; the Chicago White Sox series at Houston will start at 5pm ET and be televised by NBCSN, and the Chicago Cubs’ series at San Diego will have 10 p.m. ET games on NBCSN.

The Phillies will open a best-of-three National League wild-card series on Tuesday in Atlanta against their NL East rivals, the Braves. Atlanta’s series hosting Philadelphia will have 2pm games televised on NBC.