Red October Approaches: Phillies Clinch Playoff Spot
QUEENS, N.Y. — As a sea of orange and black filed out onto the concourse grimacing at the New York night, large smatterings of red and maroon and white stepped forth from the stands like a horde of the chosen.
Down on the infield dirt below, the Phillies were celebrating the clinching of their third consecutive playoff appearance.
The clinch celebration had a different, more muted flavor from the past two years, when less dominant Phillies squads earned their postseason spot as a Wild Card team, far behind the Braves for a division title.
But 2024 is different. The Phillies hold the best record in baseball with just 10 days left in the season. If they win either of their games against the Mets this weekend, they'll clinch their first NL East divisional championship since 2011.
They clinched Friday night in style, putting up 12 runs in a nationally televised Apple TV game against their archrival New York Mets. It was a statement win, a night after they gave up 10 runs in the series opener in Queens. All went according to script, with Cristopher Sanchez throwing a strong five innings of two-run ball despite not having his most accurate stuff, and Alec Bohm ripping an essentially game ending, three run home run as part of a six-run fourth inning.
If the playoffs started today, the Phillies would have the top seed in the National League, home field advantage throughout the playoffs, and an automatic bye in the first round. They would then face the winner of the San Diego Padres and the Arizona Diamondbacks in the wild card round.
The second-seeded Dodgers began their Friday night game against the Colorado Rockies half a game behind the Phillies. If the Dodgers snuck ahead of the Phillies in the next 10 days, the Phillies would hypothetically face the winner of the Milwaukee Brewers and Mets.
