As much of the Philadelphia area was fast asleep, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, the Philadelphia Phillies were out on the West Coast putting together an exciting extra-inning victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The win had the East Coast–based, jet-lagged Phillies celebrating well into the night. This victory secured the team’s first back-to-back National League East title since the team held it five years straight from 2007-2011.
By morning, the team—sluggish after their late-night celebrations—will wake up ready to get back to work. There is, after all, a lot more work to do.
Looking for a bye
With the hunt for the NL East officially over, Philadelphia will now set their eyes on the next objective: a bye through the NL Wild Card Series. As things stand, the Phillies (90-61) have the lead in a battle with the Dodgers (84-66) for the No. 2 seed in the National League. Up 5.5 games with 11 games remaining, Philadelphia’s magic number to lock in the No. 2 seed is at seven.
Thus far this season, the Phillies own a 3-1 record against the Dodgers. Should they take one of the final two games against the Dodgers on Tuesday or Wednesday, the Phillies will secure the series victory, the first tiebreaker for playoff seeding. Should Philadelphia win tonight against LA, the magic number would drop to five. When you factor in that they would own the tiebreaker, however, the true magic number would land at four.
Assuming the Dodgers went 11-1 in their final 12 games, losing tonight and then winning out from then, their record would be 95-67. With a win tonight, the Phillies would be at 91 wins, meaning they would only need to win four more games to tie that mark.
Beyond the bye
So basically, the Phillies just need to win a few more games and then they can check out until the postseason? Wrong.
Philadelphia has the best record in baseball (51-24) when playing at home this season. Locking in home-field advantage throughout the postseason would be a massive milestone in their path towards the World Series. The Toronto Blue Jays have the best record in the American League (88-62). If the Phillies outpace the Blue Jays, they can secure home-field advantage in the World Series.
That leaves one team with a better record than Philadelphia currently: the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers (91-59) are one win up on the Phillies with 12 games remaining versus the Phillies’ 11. The Phillies began the month of September by taking two of three from the Brewers. The Brewers have lost some of the heat that surrounded their uprising this season, going 6-6 on the month so far. Philadelphia, meanwhile, has been the hottest team in baseball this month, going 11-3.
If the Phillies keep up the pressure, it will only be a matter of time before they eclipse the Brewers for the top spot in baseball.
The ultimate prize
Even if the Phillies catch the Brewers and earn that No. 1 seed, there is still much work to do. From the moment Philadelphia signed Bryce Harper in 2019, one singular focus has yet to be achieved: a World Series trophy.
As the team celebrated, Rob Thomson asked, “How many we got left, buddy?”
“Whatever the h*** it takes, Topper!” Realmuto fired back.
The marathon of the regular season is nearly over. For the Phillies, the real race—the sprint for a World Series title—is about to begin.
