Phillies seal playoff berth by rout Mets Originally appeared in NBC Sports Philadelphia
NEW YORK — They say third time’s a charm.
After falling short of a win on two straight nights, the Phillies finally got over the hump and accomplished the first of three major goals on the club’s late-season checklist: securing a playoff spot.
The Phillies clinched their playoff berth for the third consecutive season with an explosive 12-2 victory over the Mets. It is only the third time the Phillies have made the postseason in three consecutive seasons (1967-78, 2007-11).
Red October, here we come.
Friday marked Sánchez’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. Sánchez’s road numbers in 2024 have been a bit of an eyesore, and in his 14th start at any place not called Citizens Bank Park, those struggles continued at first (though he settled down soon after).
On his third pitch of the night, he allowed a home run to Jose Inglesias. This was his first career home run as a leadoff hitter and his fourth of the season.
Sanchez was unable to retire the next two batters he faced and as a result, the Phillies emerged from the first inning down two runs for the second straight night. It wasn’t ideal.
What *was* ideal… was seeing the Phillies’ immediate response. Alec Bohm and Nick Castellanos hit back-to-back singles, followed by Pete Alonso missing a routine fly ball by JT Realmuto to load the bases with no outs.
Only one run crossed the plate thanks to a sacrifice fly by Edmundo Sosa. If they didn’t win the game, that would come back to haunt them.
New York’s two-out run production has been a nice change of pace. Five of his six runs scored Thursday night came with two outs. His second run Friday night was the same.
Bryce Harper and Bohm singled in the third. Harper scored on a Castellanos double, but a wild throw caught catcher Luis Torrens off guard, so Bohm tried to score. The ball bounced off the wall and back to Torrens — and the only thing bouncing more was Bohm as he tried to avoid being tagged by Mets pitcher David Peterson.
Seriously, he tried to dodge the tag by jumping off his slider to leap over Peterson and tag the plate. It was an impressive effort, but Bohm was eventually tagged out. If they didn’t win the game, *that* would come back to haunt them.
At this point, the Phillies were making solid contact at the plate, Sanchez coming off his best inning of the young night… and then, the Baseball Gods arrived.
Sosa and Weston Wilson were in scoring position when Johan Rojas dribbled a ball down the third base line and over Mark Vientos. Fortunately for the Mets, the ball boy behind him fielded it without any problems. Of course, he thought it was a foul.
Both runs scored, the Phillies took their first lead of the series and exploded for a six-run inning, including a three-run homer by Bohm.
Remember Sanchez’s problems in the first inning? Say goodbye to them.
He found himself in a bind in the bottom of the fifth inning, loading the bases with two outs by allowing a double and a pair of walks… but he emerged from the inning unscathed.
The magic number to win the division is now one.
If the Phillies can at least split the four-game series with the Mets, they will return home for the final home series of the regular season with their first division title since 2011.
Two years ago, Ranger Suarez came out of the bullpen to secure the final outs in the National League Championship Series to send his club to the World Series.
On Saturday, he will have the chance to set the tone for October and secure his club the NL East crown.
Suarez has been shaky since returning from the 15-day disabled list on Aug. 24 with lower back soreness. In his five starts since, the left-hander is 2-2 with a 4.44 ERA. He has only pitched more than five innings once.
So how can we be so sure that “Mr. Rager” is the one for the job?
When the lights are brightest, when the stakes are highest, you see the same Ranger as any other night. No pressure. No pulse. Just focused and ready to go.
We’ll see if that’s the case tomorrow.
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