Phillies secure playoff spot but miss out on clinching NL East at home

PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies' clubhouse was prepped and ready to host a celebration on Sunday at Citizens Bank Park.

And while celebrating a division title did not come to fruition, the Phils did clinch a postseason berth later in the day -- while they were en route to Los Angeles -- by virtue of the Giants’ loss to the Dodgers.

Of course, that’s not the clinch they were hoping for.

With Philadelphia's magic number to clinch the National League East at just one, players arrived on Sunday morning to find plastic tarps rolled up and hanging above their lockers -- ready to be unrolled and doused in champagne later in the day.

And the Phillies seemed destined to make it happen early on. Needing only a win to secure a second straight division title, they raced out to an early lead when Kyle Schwarber smashed a first-inning home run -- his 52nd homer of the season.

J.T. Realmuto added a solo blast two batters later and Aaron Nola retired the first nine Royals he faced while cruising through four scoreless innings.

Did it feel like it was going to be a special day?

"We wanted it to be," Schwarber said. "Just fell short."

Nola was tagged for six runs in the middle innings, and the Phillies' bats went silent en route to a 10-3 loss that snapped their six-game winning streak. But immediately following the final out, an announcement invited fans to stick around and watch the remainder of the Mets' game against the Rangers on the giant Phanavision screen in left field.

After all, with a magic number of one, the Phils still would have clinched the NL East with a Mets loss. At that point, New York and Texas were tied at 2 in the top of the ninth.

The Phillies' players and coaching staff retreated to the clubhouse to watch together as the game dragged into the 10th inning. Pete Alonso's walk-off three-run homer gave the Mets a 5-2 win -- and ended the chance for an NL East clinch celebration.

The clear plastic tarps stayed rolled up. The NL East champions hats and T-shirts stayed tucked away in boxes just inside the clubhouse door. The TVs flipped to the Eagles game against the Chiefs.

And with that, the Phillies finished packing their bags to go catch a cross-country flight to Los Angeles, where they begin a pivotal three-game series against the Dodgers on Monday.

"It would have been nice to win a game at home to clinch it, but it didn't happen," said manager Rob Thomson. "So, we've just got to move on."

The Phillies don't have time to lament the squandered chance to clinch in front of their own fans. While they will still clinch the division with one win over their final 13 games (or one Mets loss), the Phils have a lot more to play for beyond the NL East.

They enter this week's showdown against the Dodgers with a 4 1/2-game lead over L.A. for the second and final first-round bye.

"We all know what's at stake," Schwarber said. "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.

"We expect to win a baseball game whenever we walk out of the locker room. That's just the way it is."

The Phillies looked to be well on their way to doing that until Nola served up a game-tying two-run homer to Jac Caglianone in the fifth. Nola then gave up four straight hits to start the sixth, capped off by a three-run homer by Salvador Perez to give the Royals a 6-2 lead.

Despite Nola's struggles this season, it was still surprising in a way to see him stumble in this type of game.

After all, the veteran right-hander earned the win when the Phillies clinched a postseason spot in 2022 to snap an 11-year drought. He was again the starting pitcher when they clinched a spot in ’23. He then got the win last year that clinched the Phils’ first division title since 2011.

In seven previous games in which the Phillies could either clinch a postseason berth, clinch a division title or clinch a postseason series, Nola was 4-1 with a 1.62 ERA, according to Phillies baseball communications. On Sunday, though, he allowed six runs in six innings to raise his season ERA to 6.44 in 15 starts.

With only two starts remaining in the regular season, Nola is running out of time to settle in before the postseason. And with ace Zack Wheeler out for the season, the Phillies are counting on Nola to likely be the only right-hander in their postseason rotation.

"You've got to take into account his track record, no doubt about it," Thomson said when asked how much that matters when prepping for postseason decisions. "But I do want to see him throw the ball consistently like he did in the first four innings today."

Overall, it wasn't a good day for the Phillies on Sunday.

"But it could be a really good day tomorrow," Schwarber said.