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Ronald Acuña Jr. slowly trotted around the bases in the fourth inning on Saturday night at Truist Park. The Phillies and Braves have built a nice rivalry over the years, and Saturday’s leisurely home run trots in Atlanta between Bryce Harper and Acuña felt like extensions of that. Harper rounded the bases on a first-inning homer in 34.27 seconds, his longest trot on an undisputed homer since Statcast started tracking them in 2015 and the Phillies’ longest trot on an undisputed homer in that span. Acuña rounded the bases in 31.57 seconds, a tad faster than his 32.36-second stroll last Sunday in Philadelphia. After his jaunt around the bases on Saturday, however, Harper could only speak about the Phillies’ postseason chances and how the NL East had slipped away from them. The Phillies were four games behind the Braves in the NL East on Sept. 4 with seven games against them in the next 10 days. The Phillies went 3-4 against Atlanta in those two series, including Sunday’s 9-4 victory. Now, they’re five back with 12 to play. They’d need a miracle of miracles to win the division at this point. Instead, they must fight for an NL Wild Card berth with 12 games to play. “We’ve just got to take care of business,” Harper said. “We can't worry about what other teams are doing, especially when you're in this situation. We’ve got to play better baseball. If we don't, we're not going to be in. I think, as a team, we’ve just got to look in the mirror, understand what we need to do on a nightly basis and guys have got to grind.” |
If the season ended on Sunday, the Cubs would host the Phillies in a best-of-three NL Wild Card Series at Wrigley Field, beginning on Sept. 29. The Phillies and Cubs have the same record at 83-67, but the Cubs won the season series (6-1), giving them the tiebreaker. But right behind both teams are the Padres and Diamondbacks. If the Phillies slip to the No. 3 Wild Card spot, the Braves would host them in a best-of-three series at Truist Park. Here’s a look at the remaining schedules for the four NL Wild Card contenders: Cubs (98.9% chance to make the postseason entering Sunday, according to FanGraphs): Six at home, six on the road, six vs. teams with winning records • 3 vs. Braves • 3 at Reds • 3 vs. Marlins • 3 at Red Sox Phillies (97.5%): Six at home, six on the road, six vs. teams with winning records • 2 at Nationals • 4 at Mets • 3 vs. Brewers • 3 vs. Rays |
Padres (72.6%): Six at home, seven on the road, six vs. teams with winning records • 4 at Rockies • 3 vs. Marlins • 3 at Dodgers • 3 vs. Diamondbacks Diamondbacks (30.9%): Six at home, six on the road, six vs. teams with winning records • 3 vs. Marlins • 3 vs. Yankees • 3 at Rockies • 3 at Padres Phillies fans might want to root for the Marlins, who play the Cubs, Padres and Diamondbacks down the stretch. It helps the Phillies that San Diego and Arizona play each other on the final weekend of the season. The Phillies face the best teams in each league in the final homestand of the season at Citizens Bank Park, but if Milwaukee and Tampa Bay secure the necessary seeding, they could use that time to rest players and set up their rotations for their hopeful postseason run. But the Phillies can’t necessarily count on that or expect it. They just need to win games. “Take it forward into these next series and keep pushing,” Kyle Schwarber said. |
MLB MORNING LINEUP PODCAST |
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Jesús Luzardo has struck out 221 batters this season, the most by a Phillies left-hander since Cliff Lee struck out 222 in 2013. Steve Carlton set the single-season strikeout record by a lefty in 1972. How many batters did he strike out that season? A. 310 B. 305 C. 286 D. 300 |
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OPTIMISTIC OR PESSIMISTIC ABOUT LUZARDO? |
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Luzardo and the Phillies are optimistic that a break from throwing for a few days, plus anti-inflammatories, will get him back on the mound as early as this week and ready for the postseason. Luzardo had an MRI exam on Friday night because of a sore left shoulder. He liked what he heard. “It was a positive outcome,” Luzardo said Saturday. “No structural damage, really. Nothing new. It was more, you know, some inflammation. Just trying to get the inflammation out of there. I think that's really what's causing the stiffness and the discomfort. “I have a positive outlook toward it.” But not everybody seems to be as optimistic as Luzardo and the Phillies. Hall of Fame-caliber hurler and Phillies Wall of Famer Curt Schilling posted just before midnight on Saturday on X: “Here's the issue Philly fans. Something he's doing, or has done, has caused this problem. Sitting for a few days does ZERO to heal or cure that problem. ‘Resting’ literally NEVER works. Sucks too because he's had a phenomenal year.” Folks in Atlanta saw Schilling’s post, but they trust they have a better picture of what Luzardo is facing. Time will tell, of course. |
THIS DATE IN PHILLIES HISTORY |
Roy Halladay tosses a shutout against the Astros on Sept. 14, 2011. It clinches the Phillies a postseason berth. |
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A. 310 Carlton went 27-10 with a 1.97 ERA in 346 1/3 innings in ’72. |
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