PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia Phillies are mired in last place after a franchise-record 62 losses before the All-Star break.

But don't tell the rebuilding bunch they can't have some fun in the second half.

They had plenty of it on Wednesday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park. Pinch-hitter Odubel Herrera was tackled and mobbed by teammates after delivering the winning hit in the Phillies' 5-4 walk-off victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.

"The players are playing with energy. They are playing to win games, so it seems to me," Philadelphia interim manager Pete Mackanin said. "Everybody on the bench is into it and guys are pulling for each other. That's the thing we're looking for the most right now."

Herrera, who worked an 11-pitch at-bat by fouling off seven balls, laced an RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning to ignite the celebration, a second walk-off win in the last four days. It was also good timing for Herrera, who failed to run a ball out Tuesday night and heard about it.

"It's a redeemer, let's put it that way," Mackanin said. "I won't say I stuck up for him because we had a talk and we let him know we didn't like what he did. Needless to say, that doesn't mean we're giving up on him or we're down on him. Like I said (Tuesday), he gives 100 percent and he works hard. So it was almost fitting after we spoke to him that he got the big hit to win the game."

The Phillies (34-63) have won back-to-back series for the first time this season and are 5-1 to start the second half.

Meanwhile, the Rays (48-49) are not having fun. They're experiencing a "gut check," as manager Kevin Cash put it. Tampa Bay slipped back below .500 after being at or above the mark for 49 of the last 53 days. The Rays have gone 8-19 since June 20.

After going 2-4 in a six-game road trip to start the second half, the Rays, still contending in a tight American League East, will have a day off before beginning a six-game homestand.

"Kind of a little bit of a gut check for all of us I think, myself included," Cash said. "If 24 hours off helps us evaluate that, then so be it. But we need to kind of flip a switch here ... now."

Philadelphia closer Jonathan Papelbon (2-1) worked two scoreless innings for the win. Tampa Bay closer Brad Boxberger (4-6) allowed the winning run in his second inning.

With a man on third base and two outs in the top of the ninth, Phillies third baseman Andres Blanco made a sparkling barehanded play on a slow roller to retire the runner at first and save Papelbon from allowing the go-ahead run.

"Phenomenal," Papelbon said of the play. "One of the better plays I've seen in my entire big-league career. I thought he was going to be safe and we were going to be down a run."

Boxberger pitched a quick and clean ninth but wasn't the same in the 10th.

"Just not as sharp going back out there for the second inning," he said. "Just not the same.

"But it's something I have to do. Go out there for a second inning and keep us in the game there."

Boxberger surrendered a leadoff single and then didn't throw to second on a sacrifice bunt when he had time to erase the lead runner. It proved costly because after getting a second out, Boxberger permitted Herrera to single home the decisive run from second.

"I didn't look up at the runner, I didn't hear (second baseman Logan Forsythe) call to throw it to second until it was too late," Boxberger said of the sacrifice bunt. "So just a bad read."

Regardless, losing this series to the worst team in the major leagues was the Rays' own doing. Not bad luck.

"We've got to make our own breaks," Cash said. "They were presented to us. It wasn't like anything was working against us, we just didn't execute and get it done."

Leading the Philadelphia offense, center fielder Ben Revere went 3-for-5 with an RBI to raise his batting average to .300. Right fielder Domonic Brown also collected three hits and scored the winning run after singling in the 10th.

Tampa Bay scored more than three runs for the first time on a six-game road trip. They were spearheaded by Forsythe, who went 2-for-4 with a solo home run, two RBIs and two runs.

Phillies right-hander Adam Morgan played with fire his first four innings before the Rays knocked him out in the fifth. The left-hander escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the second and stranded runners on second and third with no outs in the fourth, but Tampa Bay scored three runs in the fifth to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead.

Morgan hit center fielder Brandon Guyer with a pitch to jump-start the rally, and third baseman Evan Longoria and Forsythe laced consecutive RBI doubles to send Morgan to the exit after just 80 pitches and 4 1/3 innings.

The Rays took the lead off reliever Justin De Fratus, who allowed his inherited runner to score on pinch-hitter James Loney's single.

In his third start back from the disabled list, Tampa Bay right-hander Jake Odorizzi kept the game in check. After a two-run first inning, he found a groove and finished five innings without allowing any more runs. He struck out five.

But after trading leads, Herrera and the Phillies took the final one -- and for good.

NOTES: Phillies 3B Maikel Franco was out of the starting lineup for the second straight game. Franco (sore right elbow) left the game Monday and did not play Tuesday. He didn't require an MRI exam and is considered day to day. Before the two games off, Franco had started 59 consecutive games since being called up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley on May 15. ... Rays 1B Jake Elmore started in place of 1B James Loney, who had gone 3-for-30 (.100) over his last nine games and dropped his batting average from .286 to .252. ... The Phillies next travel to Chicago for a three-game series against the Cubs starting Friday. Philadelphia's probable starting pitchers: RHP Jerome Williams (3-7, 6.43 ERA), LHP Cole Hamels (5-7, 3.91) and RHP Aaron Nola (0-1, 1.50). ... The Rays return home to begin a three-game series with the Baltimore Orioles starting Friday. Tampa Bay's probable starting pitchers: RHP Chris Archer (9-7, 2.73), RHP Erasmo Ramirez (8-3, 3.54) and LHP Matt Moore (1-1, 7.23).