Phillies secure wild-card spot with walk-off win; Brewers secure NL Central
The Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers are in the playoffs.
The Phillies cruised to a win on the road to clinch a wild-card berth on Tuesday, clinching it in dramatic fashion with a 3-2 extra-innings win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Johan Rojas hit Cristian Pache from second base with a walk-off single in the 10th inning to secure the win.
They enter the postseason as the No. 4 seed and have home-field advantage in the wild-card round after the Milwaukee Brewers won the NL Central later that evening. The Brewers lost to the St. Louis Cardinals but clinched the division after the Atlanta Braves used a late rally to beat the Chicago Cubs 7-6.
The Cubs took a 6-0 lead against Atlanta, but entered the ninth inning trailing after allowing seven unanswered runs, including the game-winning run and the go-ahead run on an error by Seiya Suzuki in the bottom of the eighth inning.
The Cubs remain alive in the wild card race.
Phillies take an early lead, then are forced into extra innings
The Phillies were in position to win Tuesday’s regulation game after taking a 2-0 lead in the seventh inning.
Centerfielder Brandon Marsh broke a scoreless tie in the sixth with a solo home run in the sixth off Pirates starter Mitch Keller. The shot to center field broke up a no-hitter.
Bryce Harper then scored on a sacrifice throw from Kyle Schwarber to give the Phillies a 2-0 lead. But the Pirates rallied to end the game with two home runs. Bryan Reynolds hit a solo home run in the seventh inning against starter Aaron Nola. Then catcher Henry Davis hit another hit to closer Craig Kimbrel in the eighth, setting up the drama of extra innings.
The Phillies secure the No. 4 seed thanks to their 88-69 record. The NL East title has been out of reach since the Braves won it on September 13th.
The postseason berth is the Phillies’ second in a row after they made a surprise trip to the World Series last year as a wild-card team. They lost to the Houston Astros 4-2 in the World Series. That playoff berth was the franchise’s first since 2011, capping a streak of five consecutive trips to the postseason that included a World Series win in 2008.
The Brewers are returning to the postseason for the second time in three years after missing the playoffs in 2022.
