This time around, there will be no wild-card series for the Phillies.
Two nights after clinching the NL East, they secured a top-two seed and first-round playoff bye with a 9-6 win over the Cubs. They also needed a Brewers loss and Willy Adames was thrown out at second base trying to extend a single moments later as Milwaukee lost in Pittsburgh to seal the deal.
“I got to see the last out the Pirates made on the big screen and I saw the whole crowd go crazy,” Brandon Marsh said. “That’s what it’s all about. It’s huge for us.”
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The Phils jumped on Javier Assad in the first inning with another of Trea Turner's smooth, simple home-run swings to left field and a two-run double from Bryson Stott.
Nick Castellanos homered in the third and Kody Clemens went deep in the fourth. Both Castellanos and Stott had three-hit nights and Castellanos ended the night with a .428 slugging percentage, the highest it's been all season.
Cristopher Sanchez opened with three scoreless frames but a Stott error extended the top of the fourth and Nico Hoerner hit a three-run homer to make it a one-run game. Marsh canceled it out with a three-run double in the fifth and the second half of the night became much more comfortable for the Phillies and a sellout crowd of 42,438.
They closed out the regular season with a 54-26 record at Citizens Bank Park, having won more than two-thirds of their home games. (There was also a "home" loss in London). Their next ones at CBP will be October 5-6 for Games 1 and 2 of the NLDS.
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“This is the third year we’ve had a really solid core group of guys. And it’s hard to play here,” Marsh said. “When I was in Anaheim we came here and got swept and it was tough. I can only imagine for the other guys on the other side. There’s no place like it. We love it and just gotta keep it going.”
The only thing left to play for this weekend in Washington D.C. is home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs. The Phillies are 94-65 and the Dodgers are 94-64 with the Phils possessing the tiebreaker.
Ranger Suarez, Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola will start the last three games of the regular season against the Nationals. Wheeler and Nola will likely have abbreviated outings of no more than five innings unless the Phillies have a real chance to move past the Dodgers in the final 48 hours. Wheeler and Nola will then have a full week off before their first playoff starts, while Sanchez will have at least nine days.
Friday's game will also be important because it's the last regular season tune-up for Suarez, who has struggled with command his last three times out.
Sanchez was one out shy Wednesday of qualifying for the win. He finished a breakout season 11-9 with a 3.32 ERA in 181⅔ innings and could garner a few fifth-place Cy Young votes.
“It’s something really beautiful,” Sanchez said. “Never in my life did I dream I was going to pitch 182 innings in the big leagues.”
At home, Sanchez finished 7-3 with a 2.21 ERA in 17 starts. The big question now is whether he or Nola will start Game 2 of the NLDS after Wheeler. Sanchez has enormous home-road splits and that will be a factor, though manager Rob Thomson said Wednesday afternoon that the opponent will be a bigger determinant.
“This kid has had a heck of a regular season, he really has,” Thomson said. “He’s been a huge part of this.”
Both Sanchez and Nola are rolling heading into the postseason so it's a good problem to have.
“We’ve got a couple more games in Washington to kinda tune up some stuff and just sharpen the knife a little bit,” Marsh said. “We’re all excited. We worked our butts off for this moment and we’re gonna make the most of it. We’ve just got to stay hungry and humble, keep our heads down and keep going.”