Phillies clinch MLB playoff berth: Philadelphia secures postseason spot ahead of crucial series vs. Dodgers

The Philadelphia Phillies may have lost to the Kansas City Royals on Sunday (box score), but they nonetheless became the second team to clinch a spot in the postseason thanks to some help from the team they’ll play next. Indeed, the Phillies secured a playoff berth when the Los Angeles Dodgers took down the San Francisco Giants by a 10-2 final (box score) on Sunday.

While the Phillies are now assured a spot in the tournament, they were denied their second consecutive division title for at least one more day. Philadelphia would have wrapped up the National League East crown with both a win and a New York Mets loss. The Mets defeated the Texas Rangers, however, snapping their own eight-game losing streak in walk-off fashion.

The Phillies and Dodgers will begin a three-game set on Monday that has obvious playoff implications. The Phillies will enter 4 1/2 games in front of the Dodgers for the second seed in the NL playoff field — an important position given the top two seeds both get first-round byes, and the compromised state of the Phillies roster. 

Not only is Philadelphia without ace Zack Wheeler (thoracic outlet decompression surgery), but they’ll also have to go at it without high-leverage reliever Jose Alvarado (injured and ineligible for the playoffs because of a suspension earlier this year) and with both shortstop Trea Turner (hamstring) and third baseman Alec Bohm (shoulder) dealing with physical ailments.

“We all know what’s at stake,” slugger Kyle Schwarber told reporters. “I don’t think that’s going to make us want to try harder or anything like that. We have to stay within ourselves and play our style of baseball.”

As noted above, the Phillies are the second team to secure a playoff berth. The Milwaukee Brewers became the first earlier this weekend. The Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, and Toronto Blue Jays are all in position to join those clubs over the course of this week.