Phillies avoid disaster, clinch NL’s final wild-card spot after near-collapse ahead of D-backs

The Philadelphia Phillies can exhale. Which isn’t the sign of a regular season where everything went according to plan. With a 7-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday, the Phillies clinched the third and final wild-card spot in the National League, holding off a late charge from the Arizona Diamondbacks. They will play the division rival Atlanta Braves in the wild-card round. Philadelphia could have clinched a playoff spot as early as Wednesday, which it entered as part of a three-way tie with the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres at 87-70. The D-backs were seemingly dead in…