Rays 5, Phillies 3: Bullpen’s wild pitch wastes Zack Wheeler’s 14 strikeouts

There was little Jose Alvarado could do Saturday with the grounder he fielded near the pitcher’s mound. Maybe a perfect throw could have caught the runner at home in the eighth inning of a 5-3 loss to the Rays.

But that grounder, which brought home the go-ahead run, would have been less crucial had the Rays not moved up two bases earlier in the inning on a wild pitch. Randy Arozarena went from first to third on a wild pitch by Sam Coonrod as the reliever’s fastball bounced away from J.T. Realmuto and to the deep backstop at Tropicana Field.

Arozarena was already at third by the time Alec Bohm retrieved the wild pitch. The complexion of the inning -- Alvarado walked in a run with the bases loaded to give the Rays a two-run lead -- could have been different had Coonrod not uncorked a wild pitch.

Zack Wheeler struck out a career-high 14 batters, but had to settle for a no-decision. It was Wheeler’s third straight start with 10 or more strikeouts as he joined Steve Carlton and Curt Schilling as the only Phillies pitchers to do that.

Wheeler overpowered the Rays with his fastball, which topped out at 98.2 mph. Home-plate umpire Brian Gorman had a generous strike zone and Wheeler took advantage of it, throwing his slider outside to left-handers for called strikes. Wheeler struck out the side in the first, third, and fifth innings.

Wheeler was burnt by a pair of two-out, full-count walks in the sixth. Ji-Man Choi dropped an RBI single into center after Austin Meadows and Yandy Diaz walked. Twice, Wheeler was a pitch away from ending the inning. Instead, the Rays took a 3-2 lead.

The Phillies may have lost Roman Quinn for the season after he injured his left Achilles tendon in the fifth inning before he managed to score the tying run. Quinn fell in between third and home as he sprinted from first on a two-run double by Ronald Torreyes. Quinn got to his feet, scored, and then collapsed at home.

The Phillies did not immediately announce the severity of Quinn’s injury, but it was serious enough that he had to be carried off the field. Quinn returned from the injured list just four days earlier after missing three weeks with a deep cut on his right index finger. Quinn, who has been injured throughout his career, ruptured his right Achilles tendon after the 2013 season.

Quinn was replaced in right field by Matt Joyce, who broke an 0-for-28 slump with a tying homer to right field. Joyce, a reserve outfielder who spent two weeks this month on the injured list, last had a hit on April 20. He entered Saturday with just three hits in his first 39 at-bats. The Phillies added Joyce this offseason to be an experienced bat off the bench, but he struggled early on.

Alec Bohm and Andrew McCutchen both went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. Bohm has 30 strikeouts this month in 95 at-bats and McCutchen has 32 strikeouts in May in 90 at-bats. The Phillies aren’t getting much production from third base and left field, but there’s not obvious options waiting to replace them. The Phillies struck out 15 times on Saturday as 42% of their plate appearances ended with a strikeout.

Zach Eflin starts Sunday afternoon (1:10 p.m. on NBC Sports Philadelphia and WIP-FM) in the finale of the two-game series in Tampa. Eflin has pitched six or more innings in each of his 10 starts this season. The Rays have no yet announced a starter.