The Phillies finish their past week of baseball with a 4-2 record over 6 games. They won 2 of 3 against the Cardinals in St. Louis and took 2 of 3 from the Braves in Atlanta. Over the 6 games for the week, they were outscored by opponents 32-26. A 4-2 week especially on the road at this point is a success for the Phillies who are getting closer and closer to officially clinching a Wild Card berth.
The Phillies are 5-5 in their last 10 games and remain in 2nd place in the NL East with a 83-69 record. With just 10 regular season games remaining, they are currently alone in the first Wild Card position with a 3 game lead over the D-Backs and a 3.5 game lead over the Cubs. At the time of this article, their magic number to clinch is 7. Barring some kind of disaster, the Phillies will clinch at some point next week as they prepare for a 4-game series at home against the Mets, followed by a 3-game series at home with the Pirates.
NL Wild Card Standings
Hitting Stats (last 7 days)
Pitching Stats (last 7 days)
Injury Updates
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Results:
9/15 @ St. Louis Cardinals - W (5-4)
Aaron Nola got the start on the mound against Zack Thompson. The Phillies took an early 4-run lead in the top of the 1st thanks to a Bryce Harper RBI on a fielder’s choice and a 3-run home run by Nick Castellanos. In the bottom of the 3rd, Alec Burleson and Nolan Arenado hit RBI singles to make the score 4-2.
Masyn Witt hit an RBI sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 4th to make it 4-3. JT Realmuto hit an RBI single in the top of the 6th to extend the Phillies lead to 5-3. The Cardinals scored a run in the bottom of the 9th but Jose Alvarado was able to get out of a jam to get the save and end the game.
Aaron Nola finished with 4.2 innings, 1 strikeout, 1 walk, and 3 runs (2 earned) on 7 hits. The Phillies bullpen was called upon early and got the job done as Strahm, Hoffman, Dominguez, and Kimbrel all had scoreless appearances to secure the Phillies’ lead. The Phillies had 8 hits as a team, led by JT Realmuto (2 for 4 with an RBI and a run) and Johan Rojas (2 for 4 with a double).
9/16 @ St. Louis Cardinals - W (6-1)
Ranger Suarez got the start against Miles Mikolas. Alec Bohm hit an RBI single in the top of the 1st and a Brandon Marsh RBI sacrifice fly in the 2nd put the Phillies up 2-0. Paul Goldschmidt hit an RBI double in the bottom of the 3rd to make it 2-1. Kyle Schwarber hit a 3-run home run in the top of the 5th to extend the lead to 5-1. Johan Rojas hit an RBI double in the top of the 9th, and Dylan Covey closed out the bottom half as the Phillies won 6-1.
Ranger Suarez finished with 6 innings, 5 strikeouts, 4 walks, and 1 earned run on 4 hits. The bullpen performed well again as Hoffman, Marte, Soto, and Covey combined for 3 scoreless innings. The Phillies had 11 hits as a team, led by Brandon Marsh (2 for 3 with an RBI and a run), Johan Rojas (2 for 3 with a double, RBI, and a run), and Nick Castellanos (2 for 4 with a run).
9/17 @ St. Louis Cardinals - L (5-6)
Taijuan Walker got the start against Dakota Hudson with the Phillies looking for a sweep. In the bottom of the 3rd, Paul Goldschmidt hit a 2-RBI double followed by an RBI double by Nolan Arenado, giving St. Louis a 3-0 lead. The Phillies tied the game in the top of the 4th thanks to some help from the Cardinals, scoring a run on an odd sacrifice bunt play, and later scored 2 runs on what should’ve been a double play ball by Castellanos if not for a throwing error.
In the bottom of the 5th, Goldschmidt hit a solo home run and Arenado hit an RBI single to take a 5-3 lead. Alec Bohm led off the 8th inning with a towering solo home run and Castellanos later drove in the tying run on an RBI single. Seranthony came on to pitch in the bottom of the 8th with a tie game, and Jordan Walker hit a 2-out solo shot to left field to take a 6-5 lead. Ryan Helsley closed it out in the 9th as the Phillies lost a close one.
Taijuan Walker finished with 7 innings, 3 strikeouts, 1 walk, and 5 earned runs on 8 hits. The Phillies had 11 hits as a team, led by Alec Bohm (2 for 4 with a home run, walk, 2 runs, and an RBI), Bryson Stott (2 for 4 with a run), and Trea Turner (2 for 5).
9/18 @ Atlanta Braves - W (7-1)
Zach Wheeler got the start in the series opener against Kyle Wright in Atlanta. Ozzie Albies hit a solo homer in the bottom of the 1st to take an early 1-0 lead. Johan Rojas hit a 2-run opposite field home run to make it 2-1 in the 2nd. Bryce Harper hit a solo homer in the 3rd and JT Realmuto hit a solo homer in the 4th to go up 4-1. In the top of the 6th, Nick Castellanos hit a solo home run and Kyle Schwarber hit a 2-run home run to extend the lead to 7-1.
Soto, Strahm, and Covey each threw scoreless innings out of the bullpen to end the game. Zach Wheeler finished with 6 innings, 5 strikeouts, 2 walks, and 1 earned run on 3 hits. The Phillies had 7 hits as a team, including an impressive 5 home runs. Trea Turner had the only multi-hit game, going 2 for 5.
9/19 @ Atlanta Braves - L (3-9)
Christopher Sanchez got the start against Spencer Strider. Ronald Acuña Jr. hit a solo homer in the bottom of the 1st to take a 1-0 lead. Kevin Pillar hit a 2-RBI single in the bottom of the 4th to extend the lead to 3-0. The Braves scored 4 runs in the top of the 5th on a bases loaded walk, a Marcell Ozuna 2-RBI double, and a sacrifice fly. Bryce Harper hit a 3-run home run in the top of the 6th to make the score 7-3.
Acuña hit his second homer of the day in the bottom of the 6th followed by an Ozuna RBI single to make the score 9-3. Christopher Sanchez went 4 innings, 2 strikeouts, 1 walk, and 3 earned runs on 7 hits. Strider and the Braves’ bullpen kept the Phillies’ offense at bay, who compiled just 4 hits on the day as a team.
9/20 @ Atlanta Braves - W (6-5)
Aaron Nola got the start against Bryce Elder in the final regular season matchup between the Phillies and Braves. Alec Bohm hit an RBI single in the top of the 1st to give Philly an early 1-0 lead. Nick Castellanos hit a solo home run in the top of the 2nd. In the top of the 4th, Castellanos hit another home run, this time a 2-run shot. Matt Olson hit an RBI single in the bottom of the 4th and Nicky Lopez hit an RBI single in the bottom of the 5th to make it 4-2.
The Braves tied the game in the bottom of the 8th on an Austin Riley RBI single and Marcell Ozuna RBI double. Raisel Iglesias and Craig Kimbrel kept the door closed in the 9th to force the game into extra innings. Kimbrel received help from Castellanos who made a bold catch of a foul ball in right field and spun and threw out the speedy Luke Williams at the plate to end the inning. In the top of the 10th with 2 outs, Bryson Stott hit a double to drive in 2 and take a 6-4 lead.
The automatic runner scored for the Braves but Matt Strahm pitched a 3-up, 3-down inning in the bottom of the 10th to end it. Aaron Nola finished with 6 innings, 8 strikeouts, 0 walks, and 2 earned runs on 6 hits. The Phillies had 5 hits as a team, led by Nick Castellanos (2 for 5 with 2 home runs, 3 RBI, and 2 runs) and Alec Bohm (2 for 4 with a walk and an RBI).
Looking Ahead
The Phillies begin an extended Week 25 of the season, their last one of the regular season, with a 4-game series at home against the New York Mets (70-81) Thursday-Sunday. They have an off day Monday then have a 3-game series at home with the Pittsburgh Pirates (70-81) Tuesday-Thursday. They then travel to New York for their last series of the season, another 3-game set with the Mets Friday-Sunday.
Thursday, 9/21 7:15pm vs. NYM - Ranger Suarez (3-6, 3.80 ERA) vs. David Peterson (3-8, 5.22 ERA)
Friday, 9/22 7:05pm vs. NYM - Taijuan Walker (15-5, 4.40 ERA) vs. Tylor Megill (8-, 4.94 ERA)
Saturday, 9/23 4:05pm vs. NYM - Zack Wheeler (12-6, 3.63 ERA) vs. Jose Quintana (3-5, 3.02 ERA)
Sunday, 9/24 1:05pm vs. NYM - Christopher Sanchez (2-5, 3.55 ERA) vs. Butto (1-2, 3.09 ERA)
Tuesday, 9/26 6:40pm vs. PIT - Aaron Nola (12-9, 4.57 ERA) vs. Mitch Keller (12-9, 4.04 ERA)
Wednesday, 9/27 6:40pm vs. PIT - Ranger Suarez vs. Oviedo (8-14, 4.27 ERA)
Thursday, 9/28 6:05pm vs. PIT - Taijuan Walker vs. Luis L. Ortiz (4-5, 4.85 ERA)
Friday, 9/29 7:10pm @ NYM
Saturday, 9/30 7:10pm @ NYM
Sunday, 10/1 3:10pm @ NYM
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