Major League Baseball
Tampa Bay 5, Philadelphia 0
When: 3:10 PM ET, Sunday, September 27, 2020
Where: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
Temperature: Indoors
Umpires: Home - David Rackley, 1B - Lance Barksdale, 2B - Chris Conroy, 3B - Larry Vanover
Attendance: 0

Rookie Josh Fleming spun six scoreless innings as the Tampa Bay Rays put an end to Philadelphia's playoff hopes Sunday, finishing their three-game sweep of the Phillies with a 5-0 victory in St. Petersburg, Fla.

In a career-long start, Fleming (5-0) recorded five strikeouts and allowed four hits and a walk. Relievers Oliver Drake, Aaron Loup and Ryan Sherriff each tossed a scoreless frame in the six-hit shutout for Tampa Bay, which finished the regular season by winning nine of its last 11 games.

Kevan Smith came off the bench to go 2-for-4 with a double, run and an RBI, while Mike Brosseau produced two hits, including a triple, and drove in a run and scored. Nate Lowe had two hits and a run.

The Rays finished 40-20 -- the best 60-game stretch in club history -- and posted a franchise-high .667 winning percentage in the truncated season, shattering their previous best of .599 in 2008.

The No. 1-seed Rays will meet their American League East rival Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday when the AL Wild Card playoffs open.

In a must-win situation for Philadelphia (28-32), right-hander Aaron Nola (5-5) turned in a poor start by working just 3 2/3 innings and allowing six hits and three runs in his second-shortest stint this season. Bryce Harper produced two hits.

On a day when the Phillies needed help -- they would have earned a wild-card berth by winning and having Milwaukee and San Francisco lose -- the club could not help itself, losing for the seventh time in eight games.

The Rays got a run in the second using three hits -- the most unlikely coming from Smith. The No. 3 catcher pinch hit for Brett Phillips, who left with a leg injury, and Smith rapped a two-strike single to left to score Joey Wendle.

Nola struck out the first two batters in the third, but a bases-empty walk got the home side rolling. Lowe, Wendle and Hunter Renfroe each produced consecutive singles, with the latter two driving in runs to make it 3-0.

In the sixth, Brosseau hit a ball to right, and right fielder Phil Gosselin pulled up and tried to fake out baserunner Smith as if the ball were catchable, but a high hop over Gosselin rolled to the wall for a triple and a 4-0 lead. Brosseau scored on a wild pitch during a strikeout.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Philadelphia   Tampa Bay
Aaron Nola Player Josh Fleming
Loss W/L Win
3.2 IP 6.0
6 Strikeouts 5
6 Hits 4
7.36 ERA 0.00
Hitting
Philadelphia   Tampa Bay
Bryce Harper Player Michael Brosseau
2 Hits 2
0 RBI 1
0 HR 0
2 TB 4
.500 Avg .500
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Philadelphia 6 0 7 .188 12 5 0 1 0 0
Tampa Bay 9 0 12 .281 17 10 4 4 0 1