USATSI_18031761 — © Mike Watters-USA TODAY Sports

Phillies Demolish Rays in Final Spring Training Contest

The Philadelphia Phillies traveled to the Tampa Bay Rays' Tropicana Field for their final contest of the spring on Wednesday.

Author:
Ben Silver
Apr 6, 2022 3:17 PM EDT

In front of just over 1,000 fans at Tropicana Field on Wednesday, the Philadelphia Phillies put on a show of power and dominance at the plate.

In just the first two innings, home runs were hit by Bryce Harper, Rhys Hoskins, Mickey Moniak and Harper again.

With his second long ball of the day in the second inning, Harper hit his eighth of the spring, while Hoskins and Moniak increased their totals to three and six respectively.

Moniak, however, was lifted in the fourth before he could get a chance at chasing Harper's team lead. He was hit on the hand in what was called a swinging strikeout that looked potentially serious. Luckily for the Phillies, his X-Rays came back negative.

It's unlikely the Phillies will now deign to start him Friday. As a precautionary move, he'll probably ride the bench for a few days instead of making his 2022 debut this weekend.

Not to be outdone was Ranger Suárez. In his second outing of spring training, his final tune-up before the regular season, he was perfect.

Suárez did not allow a baserunner through 3.2 innings, struck out one, and flashed an impressive barehanded play to get the runner out at first base.

By the sixth inning, most Phillies starters had been lifted for Single-A substitutions, players with no chance of sniffing the 40-man roster this season like Leandro Pineda, Oscar Gonzalez, Randy Vazquez and more.

But Johan Camargo, Alec Bohm and Matt Vierling also got playing time late in the game. Camargo got in on the fun as well, crushing a solo home run of his own to dead center field, extending the Phillies lead to eight.

Once Suárez was lifted in the fourth, the Phillies bullpen shut down a sparse Tampa Bay Rays offense. Corey Knebel, Bailey Falter, José Alvarado, Michael Kelly and Aiden Anderson held the Rays to just two hits and one run. The combination struck out five and allowed no walks for an inspiring performance ahead of Opening Day.

After Rays starter Luis Patiño was lifted, and rookie-ball reliever Jack Snyder allowed four runs, the Rays bullpen was similarly effective, allowing one run over 6.2 innings.

Minor leaguer Ethan Evanko came in to pitch the ninth for the Phillies. He allowed one Tampa Bay runner to cross the plate but closed out the Phillies spring training slate with aplomb.

Opening Day is Friday, April 8 against the Oakland Athletics, and the Phillies' bats couldn't get any hotter heading into this Friday.