NEW YORK – They say all good things come in threes.
After failing to win on two consecutive nights, the Phillies have finally cleared the hurdle and accomplished the first of three major goals on the club’s end-of-season checklist: securing a playoff spot.
With an explosive 12-2 victory over the Mets, the Phillies have qualified for the playoffs for the third year in a row. It is only the third time that the Phillies have made the playoffs in three consecutive seasons (1967-78, 2007-11).
A few glasses of champagne were thrown around, Rob Thomson toasted his team, but otherwise things continued as usual in the clubhouse.
Although bigger goals are on the horizon, Topper still wanted to take a minute and express his gratitude for his club.
“It’s tough to get to this point,” Thomson said. “There are a lot of really good teams out there. You have to overcome obstacles, whether it’s travel, injuries, births, whatever. These guys have done it. These guys are tough. I just wanted to thank them. I wanted to thank our team. … I just wanted to toast them.”
The destination is Red October… but a few more stops are necessary along the way.
Friday was Sanchez’s 30th start of the season — he’s the first left-handed pitcher to make 30 starts in a season since Cole Hamels in 2014. Sanchez’s 2024 away numbers were a little ugly — and in his 14th start at a venue other than Citizens Bank Park, those struggles continued at first (though he calmed down soon after).
On his third pitch of the night, he allowed a home run to Jose Inglesias. This was Inglesias’ first leadoff home run of his career and his fourth of the season.
Sanchez failed to strike out the next two batters he faced, and the Phillies left the first inning trailing by two runs for the second straight game. Not ideal.
The Phillies’ immediate response was ideal. Alec Bohm and Nick Castellanos hit two consecutive singles, after which Pete Alonso missed a routine pop-up from JT Realmuto and filled the bases with no outs.
Only one run was scored, on a sacrifice fly by Edmundo Sosa. If they didn’t win the game, it would be their undoing.
New York’s two-out run production was a nice change. Five of the six runs they scored Thursday night came with two outs. Their second run on Friday night was the same.
Bryce Harper and Bohm singled in the third inning. Harper scored on a double by Castellanos, but a wild pitch surprised catcher Luis Torrens – so Bohm tried to score. The ball bounced off the wall back to Torrens … and the only thing that bounced more was Bohm trying to avoid the tag from Mets pitcher David Peterson.
Seriously, he tried to avoid the tag by jumping out of his slide to leap over Peterson and touch the plate. It was an impressive feat, but Bohm was ultimately subbed out. If they didn’t win the game, *that* would come back to haunt them.
At this point, the Phillies had good contact at the plate, Sanchez had just pitched his best inning of the night… and then the baseball gods arrived.
Sosa and Weston Wilson were in good position when Johan Rojas dribbled a ball past Mark Vientos down the third base line. Fortunately for the Mets, the ball boy behind him caught the ball without any problems. Of course, he thought it was a foul.
Both runs were scored, the Phillies took their first lead of the series and put together a six-run inning, including a three-run home run by Bohm.
Remember Sanchez’s problems in the first inning? Then you can say goodbye to them.
He found himself in a tough spot in the bottom of the fifth inning, loading the bases with two outs, allowing a double and two walks…but he got out of the inning unscathed.
The magic number to win the division is now one.
If the Phillies manage to at least split the four-game series with the Mets, they can head home for the final home game of the regular season with their first division title since 2011.
Two years ago, Ranger Suarez came out of the bullpen to secure the last outs in the NLCS and send his club to the World Series.
On Saturday he has the chance to set the tone for October and secure the NL East crown for his club.
Suarez has been shaky since returning from the 15-day injured list on Aug. 24 with back soreness. In his five starts since then, the left-handed pitcher has a 2-2 record and a 4.44 ERA. He has lasted more than five innings only once.
So how can we be so sure that “Mr. Rager” is the one to do the job?
When the lights are brightest and the stakes are highest, you’ll see the same Ranger you see any other night. No pressure. No pulse. Just focused and ready to go.
We will see tomorrow whether that is the case.
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