Phillies’ Only Path to Top NL Playoff Seed Requires Brewers Collapse

The Philadelphia Phillies have the No. 2 seed locked in and have just one path to claiming the No. 1 overall seed in the National League playoffs.

Philadelphia Phillies third base Alec Bohm (28) hits a single against the Miami Marlins during the eighth inning at Citizens Bank Park. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Phillies had to wait through another rain delay, but they wrapped up their series with a 1-0 victory over the Miami Marlins on Thursday night at Citizens Bank Park.

Philadelphia scored that run in the first inning, as Harrison Bader scored on a groundout by third baseman Alec Bohm. From there, Philadelphia’s pitching staff, led by starter Walker Buehler, made that run stand up. Buehler had a solid outing, giving up three hits and no runs in five innings. After that, three Phillies relievers held the Marlins to two hits in the final four innings.

Now, the Phillies (94-65) have three games remaining at home against the Minnesota Twins. Philadelphia also has a path to the No. 1 seed in the National League playoffs, though it’s a narrow one and is at best unrealistic.

Phillies Seeding Update

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The Philadelphia Phillies clinched no worse than the No. 2 seed in the NL playoffs with their victory on Wednesday night. That seed comes with a bye through the wild card round, followed by a best-of-five series in the divisional round, where they would host the first two games and the final game, if necessary.

But the Phillies still have a chance to improve their seed with three games remaining. Thursday's win was important in that Philadelphia is now two wins back of the Milwaukee Brewers, who have won the NL Central Division title and currently hold the No. 1 seed in the NL playoffs.

There is a path for Philadelphia to overtake Milwaukee, but it's a narrow one. The Phillies must win all three games against the Twins, and the Brewers must lose all three of their upcoming games with the Cincinnati Reds. While the Twins are playing out the string, the Reds are highly motivated as they still have a chance to sneak into the playoffs.

This is the only path for Philadelphia to claim the top seed because Milwaukee has the tiebreaker over the Phillies. So, if they end up with the same number of wins by the end of Sunday’s action, the Brewers would be the top seed.

The Phillies have already determined that left-hander Cristopher Sanchez will star the first game of their NL Division Series on Oct. 4. Philadelphia will play the winner of the wild card series between the No. 3 and No. 6 seeds. The Los Angeles Dodgers are locked in as the No. 3 seed while the No. 6 seed is still up in the air going into the weekend.  

Philadelphia Phillies Chase for No. 1 NL Seed

Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Milwaukee Brewers: 96-63 (lead NL)

Philadelphia Phillies: 94-65 (2.5 games behind)

Los Angeles Dodgers: 90-69 (7.0 games behind)

Philadelphia Phillies Games Remaining: 3

Philadelphia Phillies Remaining Schedule: Sept. 26-28, vs. Minnesota.

Milwaukee Brewers Remaining Schedule (3 games): Sept. 26-28, vs. Cincinnati.

NLDS Series (Best-of-5)

Game 1: Saturday, Oct. 4: No. 3-6 winner vs. Philadelphia, time, TV TBA

Game 2: Monday, Oct. 6: No. 3-6 winner vs. Philadelphia, time, TV TBA

Game 3: Wednesday, Oct. 8: Philadelphia at No. 3-6 winner, time, TV TBA

Game 4: Thursday, Oct. 9: Philadelphia at No. 3-6 winner, time, TV TBA (if necessary)

Game 1: Saturday, Oct. 11: No. 3-6 winner vs. Philadelphia, time, TV TBA (if necessary)