The Phillies finish their past week of baseball with a 6-1 record over 7 games. They swept a 4-game series with the Mets at home and took 2 of 3 from the Pirates at home. Over the 7 games for the week, they outscored opponents 34-26. The past week was a huge success for the Phillies as they got the job done and clinched both a postseason berth and the #4 seed in the playoffs, and did so without any worries.
The Phillies are 8-2 in their last 10 games and remain in 2nd place in the NL East with a 89-70 record. With just 3 regular season games remaining, they have clinched the 1st Wild Card position which grants them home field in the best of 3-game Wild Card series that begins next Tuesday, October 3rd. The next 3 games essentially don’t matter in the record book, and some of the normal bench players will get more playing time.
It is not an easy task to manage for Rob Thomson, as the regulars still need reps to ensure they are ready to go come Tuesday. The team will also have some difficult decisions ahead, as the roster shrinks from 28 to 26, and it will be interesting to see who makes the roster for the Wild Card round.
NL Wild Card Standings
Hitting Stats (last 7 days)
Pitching Stats (last 7 days)
Injury Updates
None
Results:
9/21 vs. New York Mets - W (5-4)
Ranger Suarez got the start against David Peterson. Nick Castellanos hit a 2-RBI single in the bottom of the 1st to take a 2-0 lead. The Mets equalized in the top of the 2nd on a Jeff McNeil RBI double and Brett Baty RBI single. The Phillies took a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the 3rd on an Alec Bohm solo home run and Castellanos sacrifice fly. A Francisco Alvarez in the top of the 4th made it a 4-3 ballgame.
Mark Vientos hit a solo home run in the top of the 6th to tie the game. In the bottom of the 6th, Nick Castellanos hit a solo homer to retake the lead with a 5-4 score. Kimbrel and Alvarado pitched scoreless 8th and 9th innings respectively to close the door. Ranger Suarez finished with 6.2 innings pitched, 6 strikeouts, 2 walks, and 4 earned runs on 5 hits. The Phillies had 7 hits as a team, led by Nick Castellanos (2 for 3 with a home run, 4 RBI, and a run) and Bryce Harper (2 for 4 with a run).
9/22 vs. New York Mets - W (5-4)
Taijuan Walker got the start against Tylor Megill. Pete Alonso hit an RBI double in the top of the 1st for a 1-0 lead. The Mets extended their lead to 2-0 in the top of the 5th on a Brandon Nimmo RBI single. In the bottom of the 6th, JT Realmuto hit a 3-run home run to take a 3-2 lead. An RBI single by Kyle Schwarbr in the bottom of the 7th extended their lead to 4-2. In the top of the 8th, Francisco Lindor hit a solo homer to make it a 1-run game.
Brett Baty hit a solo homer in the top of the 9th to tie the game at 4. Brooks Raley pitched a scoreless bottom half to send the game to extras. Seranthony put up a goose egg in the top of the 10th, and Alec Bohm came up with a hit on a jam-shot that found a hole and scored Turner from second base for a walk-off victory. Taijuan Walker went 6 innings with 4 strikeouts, 1 walk, and 2 earned runs on 5 hits.
9/23 vs. New York Mets - W (7-5)
Zach Wheeler took the mound against Jose Quintana. The Mets scored 2 in the top of the 2nd on a fielder’s choice and error by Trea Turner. The Phillies tied the game the next half inning on a Bryce Harper home run and RBI triple by Nick Castellanos. Alec Bohm hit a solo homer in the bottom of the 3rd to take a 3-2 lead. The Phillies added 3 runs in the bottom of the 5th on a fielder’s choice and a 2-run single by Bryce Harper.
The Mets made things interesting in the top of the 7th, scoring 3 runs to make it a 6-5 game. An RBI single by Realmuto in the bottom of the 8th extended the Phillies’ lead to 7-5. Soto and Alvarado pitched scoreless 8th and 9th innings in relief of Zach Wheeler to close the game. Wheeler finished with 7 innings, 6 strikeouts, 1 walk, and 5 runs (3 earned) on 8 hits.
9/24 vs. New York Mets - W (5-2)
Christopher Sanchez got the start against José Butto. The first scoring came in the bottom of the 4th when the Phillies put up 4 runs on a 2-run Realmuto single and a Castellanos 2-run home run. A Bryce Harper RBI single in the bottom of the 5th made the score 5-0. Ronny Mauricio hit a 2-run home run in the top of the 6th, making the score 5-2.
Sanchez pitched a scoreless 7th, followed by a 2-strikeout scoreless inning in Orion Kerkering’s debut, and a much needed scoreless inning from Michael Lorenzen in the 9th, earning him the save. Sanchez put together another stellar performance, going 7 innings with 10 strikeouts, 1 walk, and 2 earned runs on 3 hits. The Phillies had just 6 hits as a team and were led by JT Realmuto (2 for 4 with 2 RBI and a run).
9/26 vs. Pittsburgh Pirates - W (3-2)
Aaron Nola got the start on the mound with the Phillies’ magic number at 1, looking to be the pitcher that helps clinch the postseason for the second consecutive year. Thanks to Pirate’s ace Mitch Keller and Nola, the game remained scoreless until the bottom of the 6th, when a Brandon Marsh solo homer and an RBI sacrifice fly gave the Phillies a 2-0 lead. Bryan Reynolds led off the top of the 7th with a solo homer, making it a 2-1 game.
In the top of the 8th, Henry Davis hit a solo home run off Craig Kimbrel to tie the game at 2. Alvarado pitched a 3-up, 3-down 9th, and the game went into extras with the Phillies unable to score in the bottom of the 9th. Jeff Hoffman escaped a jam unscathed in the top of the 10th. In the bottom of the 10th with 1 out, Johan Rojas hit a single up the middle that brought Pache around to score from second base as the Phillies walked it off.
Aaron Nola finished with 6.2 innings, 8 strikeouts, 0 walks, and 1 earned run on 4 hits. The Phillies had just 5 hits as a team, led by Rojas (2 for 4 with an RBI). The Phillies clinched a postseason berth with the victory and later on in the evening clinched the 1st Wild Card position (home field advantage in the Wild Card series) thanks to a Brewer’s victory over the Cubs.
9/27 vs. Pittsburgh Pirates - W (7-6)
Ranger Suarez got the start on the mound against Johan Oviedo in what many are calling the “hangover game” after the Phillies’ celebrating a playoff berth the night before. The Phils looked a bit hungover early, as the Pirates scored 3 in top of the 1st on a Ke’Bryan Hayes single, Connor Joe single, and a fielder’s choice. The Pirates scored 2 more in the top of the 3rd to make it 5-0.
In the bottom of the 4th, Rodolfo Castro drove in a run on a fielder’s choice, and Garrett Stubbs hit a 3-run homer, his first of the year, to right field. Pittsburgh added a run in the top of the 5th on a Jack Suwinski triple to extend their lead to 6-4. Edmundo Sosa led off the bottom of the 5th with a solo home run and Cristian Pache hit an RBI single to tie the game at 6. Bryce Harper hit a solo home run, his 21st big fly of the year, in the bottom of the 7th to give the Phillies a 7-6 lead.
Ranger Suarez went 4.2 innings with 4 strikeouts, 2 walks, and 6 earned runs on 9 hits. The bullpen gave a stellar performance as Dominguez, Kerkering, Covey, and Soto combined for 4.1 innings, 9 strikeouts, 2 walks, 2 hits, and 0 runs. The Phils had 8 hits as a team, led by Bryce Harper (3 for 4 with a double, home run, RBI, and 2 runs) and Edmundo Sosa (2 for 4 with a home run, double, an RBI, and a run).
9/28 vs. Pittsburgh Pirates - L (2-3)
Zack Wheeler got the start against Luis Ortiz in the series finale and last regular season home game. Kyle Schwarber hit a solo home run in the top of the 1st for his 46th of the season. In the top of the 3rd, Jared Triolo tied the game at 1 with an RBI double. Bryce Harper was ejected in the bottom of the 3rd in a classic Angel Hernandez issue of blatantly missing a call.
Jared Triolo hit another RBI double in the top of the 5th and Jack Suwinski followed with an RBI single to take a 3-1 lead. Trea Turner scored in the top of the 8th on an errant throw while stealing third base to make it 3-2. Turner is now a perfect 30 for 30 on stolen base attempts this season. David Bednar shut it down in the bottom of the 9th as the Phillies fell.
Wheeler had what was essentially a pitch limit, but went 4 innings with 5 strikeouts, 1 walk, and 1 earned on 4 hits in his last start before the playoffs. Lorenzen, Hoffman, and Kimbrel all pitched scoreless appearances out of the bullpen, which is a good sign as they look towards a playoff run. The Phillies had just 5 total hits as an offense, led by Trea Turner (3 for 4 with 2 doubles and a run.
Looking Ahead
Friday, 9/29 7:10pm @ NYM - Taijuan Walker (15-5, 4.35 ERA) vs. Tylor Megill (8-8, 4.92 ERA)
Saturday, 9/30 7:10pm @ NYM - TBD vs. Jose Quintana (3-6, 3.39 ERA)
Sunday, 10/1 3:10pm @ NYM - TBD vs. José Butto (1-3, 3.75)
Wild Card Series
Game 1 - Tuesday, 10/3
Game 2 - Wednesday, 10/4
Game 3 (if necessary) - Thursday, 10/5
*Phillies Wild Card opponent and game times yet to be determined. It is likely that Zack Wheeler will be on the bump in game 1 and Aaron Nola in game 2.
**For more Phillies and MLB content, follow me on X @lkurtzy23
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