As soon as the ball left his bat, Brett Phillips started running. Even as his first home run of the season sailed out to left-center field and landed over the outfield wall, Phillips sped around the bases, bounced into the Rays’ dugout and marched from one end to another. 

No, it wasn’t the biggest hit the World Series Game 4 hero has ever had. But it was one the Rays needed and one worth celebrating. 

Phillips’ two-run homer off Frankie Montas put the Rays on top in the sixth inning, and Joey Wendle snapped their 0-for-26 skid with runners in scoring position an inning later as they went on to beat the A’s, 4-3, on Tuesday night at Tropicana Field.

“It was a big moment -- there's no denying that,” manager Kevin Cash said. “We needed something to spark us, and that certainly did.”

The Rays had only scored nine runs total during the first four games of this homestand. The previous two nights, they needed a hit like the one Phillips delivered in the sixth. With their pitching coming together, one timely hit would’ve been the difference in both their 1-0 loss to the Blue Jays on Sunday and their 2-1 defeat against the A’s on Monday.

They still struggled on Tuesday, going just 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position, but there were several encouraging signs for Tampa Bay’s lineup. They finished with 10 hits overall, including three from catcher Francisco Mejía. They scored early and added on late -- after Phillips came through when they needed it the most.

“The pitching staff’s been picking us up. Slumps from a team as a whole are going to come and go through a course of a season,” Phillips said. “And it's just a matter of picking each other up, letting the next guy be the hero.”

Phillips might have been an unlikely hero, as he entered the night with only four hits in 32 plate appearances this season. But he credited coaches Chad Mottola and Ozzie Timmons for their work in the batting cage as well as their positivity and encouragement. Before the game, Phillips said, he told them both, “Man, you guys got me close.”

Sure enough …

“Oh, man, it feels good. It feels really good to contribute to this win tonight,” he said. “I know things have been struggling for myself offensively, trying to get things going, trying to get in a rhythm, but hits like that just kind of reassure you, like, ‘Hey, keep doing your work.’”

It was the biggest moment of the night for the Rays, but it was not the only one.

Thrust into the leadoff spot for the first time since 2019, Kevin Kiermaier tripled on the first pitch he saw and scored on a Randy Arozarena grounder that A’s third baseman Vimael Machín misplayed. It was Tampa Bay’s first leadoff triple since Austin Meadows hit one on July 19, 2019, and the fourth leadoff triple of Kiermaier’s career -- his first since June 24, 2018.

“I was just trying to create a spark from the get-go,” Kiermaier said. “I was really looking forward to seeing my name up there today. I didn't expect that, but I was happy, and I wanted to be a sparkplug -- try to set it off early.”

But when the Rays left six runners on base between the second and fifth innings, it felt like they might be reading from Monday’s script again -- an early run created by a new leadoff man followed by missed opportunities the rest of the night.

Right-hander Michael Wacha put together a solid start, allowing only one run in five innings despite loading the bases with nobody out in the second. The A’s pulled ahead against reliever Jeffrey Springs in the sixth, when Matt Olson doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly that Kiermaier leaped in front of Randy Arozarena to catch in left field.

But with two outs in the sixth, Mejía lined a 403-foot single off the wall in center. Up came Phillips, the No. 9 hitter, who swatted a two-strike fastball out to left-center to regain the lead. 

“He can hit the ball a long way when he hits it right, and he hit it perfect right there,” Kiermaier said. “Beautiful swing to left-center. I knew right [off] the bat, I knew that was gone -- and that was huge.” 

The Rays added a valuable insurance run in the seventh, as Arozarena doubled to right and scored on Wendle’s single off reliever J.B. Wendelken. Before that, Tampa Bay’s last hit with a runner in scoring position was Arozarena’s three-run homer on Friday night. It turned out to be necessary, too, when Diego Castillo gave up a solo shot to A’s catcher Sean Murphy in the ninth before locking down his fifth save.

“Joey Wendle just being himself, clutch as ever. When you need him most, he comes through,” Kiermaier said. “And any time you get insurance runs after taking a lead the way we did with Phillips' homer, it [is] huge.  

“That was a great, great win for us against a really good team who's playing really well right now, and hopefully, we can take that momentum going into tomorrow.”