Philadelphia Phillies Wild Card Waiting Game is More Complicated

With a game suspension on Thursday, there is potential for the Philadelphia Phillies to not know their Wild Card opponent until Monday.

The Philadelphia Phillies could be in for a really interesting lead-up to their first playoff series.

While the Phillies know they’re going to host a National League Wild Card series next week, they don’t know their opponent. It’s starting to look like the Arizona Diamondbacks, who hold a 1.5 game lead for the second Wild Card berth.

But is the lead 1.5 games or 1.0 games? It’s an interesting question because the team chasing them is the Miami Marlins, who have a 0.5-game lead on the Chicago Cubs for the final berth. And the Marlins saw their game on Thursday suspended in the top of the ninth inning with a 2-1 lead over the New York Mets.

The Phillies will play the Mets on Friday night. But that’s not the interesting part.

In the aftermath of the game suspension, Marlins Kim Ng told the Miami Herald and other outlets that “Without getting into the details, obviously this is an unfortunate incident. Right now, we’re being told that we'll have to play [the suspended game] on Monday.”

Monday? While this doesn’t impact the Phillies’ seeding, again it could impact who they play. Imagine if the Marlins are able to play their way into the second Wild Card seed this weekend in Pittsburgh and have to wrap up that game on Monday, with the Phillies looming the next day?

Goodness. At least the Phillies have the luxury of knowing their seed and can prepare accordingly.

Below is an update on the race, with the current standings, magic numbers to clinch a Wild Card berth and the remaining schedules for the teams that are still in the race.

The NL Wild Card Race as of Sept. 29

Thursday’s results

Pittsburgh 3, Philadelphia 2

Chicago White Sox 3, Arizona 1

Atlanta 5, Chicago Cubs 3

Miami 2, New York Mets 1 (suspended, ninth inning, rain)

Cincinnati, idle

Standings

(Top three teams clinch Wild Card berths)

Philadelphia (89-70): +7.0 Games (No. 4 Seed; will play No. 5 seed)

Arizona (84-75): — +1.5 GB (Magic Number to clinch playoff berth: 2)

Miami (82-76): — (Magic Number to clinch playoff berth: 4)

Chicago Cubs (82-77): — 0.5 GB (Magic Number to clinch playoff berth: 4)

Cincinnati (81-78): — 1.5 GB

What’s Left?

Philadelphia (3): Friday-Sunday: at New York Mets (3)

Chicago Cubs (3): Friday-Sunday: at Milwaukee (3)

Arizona (3): Friday-Sunday: vs. Houston (3)

Cincinnati (3): Friday-Sunday: at St. Louis (3)

Miami (3): Friday-Sunday: at Pittsburgh (3)