Be honest. You've known for about a week. I've known since Saturday's 12-2 game, which I'm still not talking about.
Five back. Twelve to play. Atlanta's got the tiebreaker in their back pocket. The division isn't mathematically dead, but it's in hospice and the family has been called.
So let's just say the thing out loud: this is a wild card team now. And after yesterday's off-day — a full 24 hours where no Philadelphia team could hurt us — I've decided I'm weirdly okay with it.
The Luzardo news is actually... good?
Deep exhale.
MRI came back clean. No structural damage. Just inflammation, which in September-pitcher terms is basically a sore throat. No IL stint planned. Rest, reevaluate, back next week if the shoulder cooperates.
The man was 14-5 with a 2.87 ERA and 221 strikeouts before his arm started barking — and it started barking right after he two-hit the Braves. Of course it did. He was pitching too well. This city doesn't get nice things at full price.
But if the cost of October Luzardo is skipping a start against the Nationals, take that deal a hundred times out of a hundred.
Tonight: Sánchez against a guy with a 6.59 ERA
Phillies-Nats, 6:45, D.C.
Cristopher Sánchez is 17-5 with a 2.79. Washington is throwing Jackson Kent, who is 1-4 with a 6.59.
I'm not saying this is a guaranteed win, because I watched this offense score one run off a Wheeler gem two weeks ago and I've learned my lesson about the light switch. But if we lose to the Nationals tonight with Sánchez on the mound, I'm walking into the Schuylkill. Business casual. Phone in pocket.
The magic number for a playoff spot is nine. Every win peels one off. Let's peel.
The actual race worth watching
Here's the one that matters now: magic number of 15 to lock up the TOP wild card spot. Top spot means every game of that series is at Citizens Bank Park.
And guess who's coming? The Cubs. We are on a full collision course with Chicago in the wild card round, and I need everyone to start emotionally preparing now.
CBP in October is a different planet. I've been saying it for weeks and I'll keep saying it: nobody — NOBODY — wants to fly into that building for a winner-take-all atmosphere with 45,000 people who've been personally wronged by baseball. Home field isn't a consolation prize. It's the whole strategy.
Braves can have the division and the No. 3 seed. We'll take the building.
Meanwhile the Birds are 1-0 and insufferable (me, I'm insufferable)
Sean Mannion's genius-forever clock is still running. Four days left until Week 2 re-evaluation, per the terms I set Monday.
That's the beauty of this exact week in Philadelphia: the football team is undefeated, the baseball team is locked into home playoff games, and the only real crisis is a shoulder that an MRI already cleared. By our standards this is basically a spa day.
It will not last. It never lasts. Enjoy it anyway.
Sánchez tonight. Peel a number.
