The Philadelphia Phillies are on the verge of securing the National League East title after their 8-6 win over the Kansas City Royals at Citizens Bank Park on Saturday night. This victory, combined with the New York Mets’ 3-2 loss to the Texas Rangers, reduced Philadelphia’s magic number to clinch the division to one. The team can claim the division either with another win Sunday or if the Mets lose again.
Manager Rob Thomson addressed what clinching at home would mean for the club and its supporters: “It’d be huge, it really would,” Thomson said. “I’d like to kind of get it out of the way as quick as we can, and to do it in front of our fanbase would be special.”
The Phillies (89-60) have won six consecutive games, a run that began with a four-game sweep against their division rivals, the Mets. The Mets now trail by 13 games in the NL East after suffering their eighth straight defeat.
Saturday’s game followed a familiar pattern for Philadelphia. Harrison Bader delivered his sixth straight multihit game, going 3-for-4 and scoring twice. Kyle Schwarber hit his 51st home run of the season and reached base four times, continuing his pursuit of Ryan Howard’s franchise record of 58 homers set in 2006.
Contributions came from across the lineup: Brandon Marsh added a home run and three RBIs; Donovan Walton recorded his first hit as a Phillie; Nick Castellanos contributed a go-ahead sacrifice fly off the bench; Otto Kemp collected two hits including an RBI double since rejoining earlier this week.
Over their current winning streak, Philadelphia has totaled 43 runs and 61 hits—a feat they’ve only matched once in a similar stretch over the last four decades, during their 2007 campaign.
Thomson highlighted the importance of contributions from different players: “It seems like there’s different guys every night, and that’s a good thing to have,” he said. “That’s when you kind of go on these types of runs.”
The Phillies’ opportunity to clinch before leaving for a West Coast trip seemed unlikely just days ago when their magic number was still in double digits. Now they have a chance to celebrate at home before heading to Los Angeles on Sunday night.
“Obviously, any time you’re able to clinch at home, it’s huge,” Bryce Harper said. “Especially in front of our fans. Best fans in baseball, man. They’ve been here all year for us. It’s a lot of fun playing here… It’d be great to be able to do it here.”
Aaron Nola is scheduled to start Sunday’s game for Philadelphia. While he has struggled this season, Nola has experience pitching in potential clinching situations—he started five previous games where postseason berths or titles were secured by Philadelphia, including last September when he helped deliver their first division crown since 2011 at Citizens Bank Park.
“That’d be great. It’d be fantastic,” Schwarber said about potentially clinching at home. “Our fans have been great all year. So if we can do it at home in front of them, let them celebrate with us as well, that would be a really cool thing for us.”
