Three days of watching other teams celebrate on our field. Three days of the ice asking questions. And then Sunday, in Game 162 — because apparently there was never any other way this was going to happen — the Phillies beat the Rays 7-3 at the Bank and clinched the final NL playoff spot.
No scoreboard-watching. No backing in on an Arizona loss. They just won the game. Revolutionary stuff.
Wheeler Said Enough
Zack Wheeler took the ball in the biggest game of the regular season and did the most Zack Wheeler thing imaginable: six innings, one run, five strikeouts, zero walks. In a comeback season nobody wanted to jinx by talking about too loudly, he improved to 14-5 and dragged this team over the line by the collar.
And the offense — the same offense that scored two runs in two games while the Brewers held up "100" signs in our building — picked a fantastic time to remember who it was. Bryson Stott went 3-for-3 and cashed the first run with a two-out double. Bryce Harper homered. Edmundo Sosa homered, because October magic always finds Sosa first. Kyle Schwarber drove in two, including a two-run double off the right field wall that made the Bank sound like January 2018.
And J.T. Realmuto — bless him — ended an 0-for-34 slide with an RBI double. If you listened closely you could hear the entire Delaware Valley exhale at once.
That's five straight Octobers. Fifth consecutive postseason. 88-74, the sixth seed, and champagne in the home clubhouse where it belongs.
The Reward: Atlanta. Obviously.
You knew it couldn't just be a clinch. There had to be a catch, and the catch is this: the wild card round is Phillies-Braves, best of three, all games at Truist Park, starting Tuesday at 2 p.m. on NBC and Peacock.
Yes, 2 p.m. A business-hours playoff game. MLB has personally arranged for you to develop a mysterious 48-hour cough. We don't make the rules; we just honor them.
The Braves won the East, they've been rude about it, and they're throwing Chris Sale in Game 1 — the same Chris Sale who has a 2.08 ERA against us in four starts this year. He's rested. He's ready. He's a problem.
The Phillies' Game 1 starter is still a game-time soap opera: Andrew Painter, fresh off the six-inning gem that finally matched the scouting reports, or Jesús Luzardo, who just came back from three weeks of shoulder inflammation and threw exactly four pitches on Sunday. Cristopher Sanchez gets Game 2 against Tyler Mahle — that's why they held him back — and Aaron Nola is sitting there for a Game 3 if it comes to that. Luis Arraez and his sprained ankle are officially a "we'll see."
Mattingly says he's riding "our best guys" out of the bullpen, no set roles. After watching the eighth inning all September, we agree. Best guys. Only the best guys. Please.
Tonight: The Birds, Under the Lights
Oh, and there's a football game. The 2-0 Eagles host the Bears at the Linc tonight, 8:15 on ESPN/ABC, and the matchup got a lot more interesting for all the wrong Chicago reasons: Caleb Williams is out, so Ben Johnson is starting either Case Keenum or Tyson Bagent on Monday Night Football. In this building. Good luck with that.
What the Bears can do is run it — D'Andre Swift (yes, that one, the Philly kid) and Kyle Monangai have combined for 300-plus rushing yards in two weeks, and Chicago put up 291 on the ground against Carolina in Week 1 alone. Meanwhile the Birds are patching: Dallas Goedert's out, Drew Kendall slides to center, and the offense that survived Tennessee at minus-2 in turnovers probably shouldn't try that trick twice.
Still: 8:15 at the Linc, backup quarterback, Monday night crowd that just clinched a playoff berth 24 hours earlier. The Linc is going to be a rain delay of noise.
Today's Assignment
This is the single greatest scheduling gift of the year: clinch hangover Monday, Eagles at night, playoff baseball tomorrow afternoon. Pace yourself accordingly. Hydrate like it's a job. And if your boss asks about tomorrow at 2 p.m., you have a dentist appointment. A three-hour dentist appointment. In Atlanta.
Go Phils. Go Birds. Red October, meet Monday Night Football.
Real question: does anyone in this city plan on being productive between now and November? Asking so we can print the shirts.
