The Tampa Bay Rays, who won more games than any American Lea

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ST. PETERSBURG , Fla. (AP) — that didn’t make the playoffs, have rewarded manager Kevin Cash with a contract extension that runs through 2024, plus a club option for 2025.The 40-year-old Cash had one year remaining on a five-year, $5 million deal he signed when he replaced Joe Maddon after the 2014 season.Financial terms were not disclosed. Both Cash, who had no previous managerial experience when he was hired, and management said it was an easy decision to continue their relationship after a bounce-back season.“Kevin has a long list of positives. … It’s been a joy to see him blossom,” general manager Erik Neander said Tuesday. “He’s very deserving of this extension. We’re excited for the years ahead.”The budget-minded Rays surprisingly won 90 games, finishing third in the AL East behind the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, despite trimming payroll last winter and purging the roster again in July to transform themselves into a young team with a promising future.Cash, who turns 41 in December, has led the Rays to a 318-330 record over four seasons.“There’s reason to be really excited about the way our team played, the youth and the athleticism, and the way these guys really came together in the second half of the year,” Cash said.“I’d like to think, other than the teams that are playing playoff baseball right now, we might have been the most talked about team in a positive light at the end of the season ,” the manager added during a conference call. “It’s an honor to be a part of that.”The Rays lost 12 of 15 to begin the season, digging themselves into a hole few people thought they were capable of escaping after trading Evan Longoria, Steven Souza Jr., Corey Dickerson and Jake Odorizzi and losing starting pitcher Alex Cobb to free agency.The club chopped more salary in July, trading pitchers Chris Archer, Nathan Eovaldi and Alex Colome, as well as catcher Wilson Ramos and outfielder Denard Span to make way for younger players.With first-time All-Star Blake Snell leading the majors with 21 wins and an AL-best 1.89 ERA and Cash overseeing an innovative plan to use “openers” and “bullpen days” to compensate for a shortage of proven starting pitching, the Rays went 41-25 after the All-Star break, including 19-9 in September.“This is a year we put a lot on his plate,” Neander said. “We made a lot of moves all the way into spring training that left a lot of doubt, potentially within our clubhouse with respect to what we could accomplish this year.“To see him navigate that, to see him navigate the difficult stretch we had out of the gates, the maturity, his approach, the unwavering support he had from our coaching staff … was really impactful” and makes Cash the right man for the job “not only today, but for the forseeable future,” the GM added.Cash doesn’t anticipate the extension creating additional pressure because expectations have remained consistent for an organization that made the playoffs four times in six seasons from 2008 to 2013.“The expectation is to go out there and find ways to win ,” Cash said, “and we get to do it with a really energetic group of players.” NEW YORK (AP) — Power pitching, that’s what the New York Mets hope to get from Zack Wheeler.But power hitting?Wheeler connected for his first major league home run and struck out 11 in seven sharp innings as the Mets handed the Philadelphia Phillies their fifth loss in six games, 9-0 on Tuesday night.“Pitching’s obviously first, but we work a lot on our hitting and we take pride in it,” Wheeler said.“We want to go up there and do well as a staff and not give them an easy out. Luckily, I wasn’t an easy out tonight,” he said.For the Phillies, it was another quiet day. Until two outs in the ninth, that is.That’s when Mets reliever Jacob Rhame sailed two fastballs over Rhys Hoskins’ head. The benches started to clear after the first time, and Hoskins angrily slung his bat after the next one, which was ball four.“I understand baseball. They got hit a couple times yesterday,” Hoskins said.But that didn’t make it any easier to accept, not after high heat buzzed his helmet. Mets catcher Travis d’Arnaud “just said they were trying to go inside and I laughed,” the Philadelphia cleanup man said.No doubt, it could make for tense times in the series finale Wednesday night.Before the late shenanigans, it was the Wheeler show.Wheeler also doubled and drove in three runs and Todd Frazier connected for a grand slam that made it 8-0 in the fifth.“I was like , God, he makes it look easy and I’m trying to get an extra-base hit or get on base,” Frazier said. “It was nice to have him supply the RBIs, give himself a little breathing room and I came in at the end.”Wheeler (2-2) became the majors’ first 100-100 player this season — he hit and pitched a ball at least 100 mph, according to Statcast.“First pitcher ever to do that,” Mets manager Mickey Callaway said. “That put him over the top, it seems like. And that’s a real stat, by the way, I’m not making that up. He did everything right.”Wheeler did it in his 100th career start, too. He fanned seven straight in the early innings, and gave himself a cushion at the plate.A career .129 hitter, Wheeler lined a two-run double in the second off Zach Eflin (2-3). The next time up, Wheeler did even better, launching a drive over the wall in left-center.Wheeler kept up a surprising longball show by Mets pitchers. Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom also have gone deep this year, making the Mets the first NL team in more than 110 years to have three pitchers homer in the first 25 games of a season.Frazier broke open the game with his fifth career slam, tagging Drew Anderson. Frazier made his season debut Monday after being slowed by a strained left oblique.Bryce Harper and the Phillies have totaled just two runs while losing three in a row, and were shut out for the first time season. They went down quietly Monday when their last 16 batters were retired , and manager Gabe Kapler said before this game that he wanted to see whether his team would respond with any energy.They didn’t, at least until two outs in the ninth. The closest the Phillies came to scoring was in the fourth when Maikel Franco was thrown out at the plate by left fielder Jeff McNeil on Cesar Hernandez’s single.“Very frustrating,” Kapler said, adding, “It wasn’t good effort.”Hernandez also let an easy grounder roll through his legs with two outs in the second, allowing Wheeler to score from second.Mets relievers Luis Avilan and Rhame finished off the five-hitter.WHEELING ALONGWheeler improved to 35-32 lifetime. He struck out nine of the first 13 batters.QUIET HARPERHarper was hitless in three at-bats, striking out twice before leaving for a substitute. The Phillies star had an uneventful night, a day after his wild rant at an umpire that has Major League Baseball looking at whether he should be penalized.“Hope not. We’ll see,” Harper said.TRAINER’S ROOMPhillies: RHP Victor Arano (elbow inflammation) might be a couple weeks from throwing, Kapler said.Mets: CF Brandon Nimmo exited after three innings because of a left oblique twinge. … SS Amed Rosario didn’t start for the second straight day because of flulike symptoms.UP NEXTPhillies: RHP Vince Velasquez (0-0, 2.55 ERA) hasn’t given up more than two earned runs in any of this three starts this season.Mets: LHP Jason Vargas (1-0, 9.58) pitches while speculation swirls that Gio Gonzalez might be signed to take his spot in the rotation.

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