NEW YORK – Everything is coming together for the Phillies on Saturday.
They had a chance to clinch the National League East title early in the evening with a win over the Mets at Citi Field. Had they won, they could have celebrated that evening in Manhattan, watched football Sunday afternoon and completed a four-game series against their division rivals Sunday night.
It would have been a nice little weekend in New York.
Instead, the Phillies must beat the Mets on Sunday night to secure the victory after losing Saturday, 6-3.
“It didn’t work out,” Kyle Schwarber said. “The biggest thing for us is we can win the division. And secondly, we want to keep winning baseball games for the rest of the season. So that’s kind of the game plan right now.”
The Phillies need just one of their last seven games to win their first division title since 2011. If they win just one more game, they won’t finish any worse than 93-69. Even if the Mets beat the Phillies on Sunday and win their last six games, they won’t finish any worse than 93-69.
But because the Phillies won the season series against the Mets, they win the deciding playoff game against New York.
So if both teams finish with 93 wins, the Phils win the division.
But the Phillies are playing for more than that. They’re trying to clinch a first-round bye and a No. 1 seed in the National League. They could get that bye early next week. They have three fewer losses than Milwaukee, the National League Central champion.
The Phillies currently hold first place over the Dodgers (92-63) via tiebreaker after their home loss to the Rockies late Saturday night.
The good news is the Phillies will have Zack Wheeler on the mound Sunday. Not only is he motivated to lead the Phillies to their first division title in 13 years, but he’s also trying to edge out Braves left-hander Chris Sale for the National League Cy Young Award. Wheeler is 6-1 with a 1.71 ERA in his last nine starts.
Schwarber led off the game with a leadoff home run off Mets left-hander Sean Manaea. But Manaea retired the next 12 batters he faced until Nick Castellanos hit a solo home run to left field to tie the score at 2-2 in the fifth inning.
Manaea then retired the next nine batters.
Ranger Suárez allowed two runs in five innings, giving up solo home runs to Francisco Alvarez and Luisangel Acuña. His velocity was high, but he lacked control at times. He hit a few curveballs and changeups in the dirt.
“I made some adjustments that helped me get my speed back,” Suarez said through the team’s interpreter.
Orion Kerkering allowed three runs in the seventh inning to give the Mets a 5-2 lead. Kerkering has been on a remarkable streak over the past month, striking out 18 and walking two in 14 scoreless innings dating back to Aug. 20.
But Kerkering walked Starling Marte to start the seventh, the first batter he had walked since Sept. 1. He then hit Pete Alonso with a one-out pitch, setting up big hits by Brandon Nimmo and Alvarez.
These were the first points conceded by Kerkering since August 15.
“He was very good,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “He should have gotten one.”
The Phillies entered this seven-game road trip with a slim chance of clinching a playoff spot and a division title earlier this week in Milwaukee. But they lost two of three games to the Brewers, pushing it all to New York.
Now they must win on Sunday night or try to qualify next week at home.
