Phillies Clinch a Berth as the MLB Playoff Chase Continues

September 21, 2024 by Dave Congrove

We now know three of the National League playoff teams after the Philadelphia Phillies clinched their inclusion with a 12-2 rout of the New York Mets in Flushing Meadows (Queens) at Citi Field.

Philadelphia joins the Los Angeles Dodgers, but both of those clubs are still looking to do what the Milwaukee Brewers have already done - clinch the division title.

In the American League, only the Yankees and Guardians have clinched a playoff spot.

Fantasy League's and daily play are heating up, too, so be sure to check out the MLB DFS projections powered by numberFire. The Atlanta Braves, who had won 6 straight NL East pennants, are eliminated from that possibility and their playoff hopes are fading fast. The Braves are two games behind the Mets as they chase the team that currently posses the third-best wild card record. The Mets, in turn, are three games behind the San Diego Padres, and one game behind the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Now, the Metropolitans need to be careful not to get swept while the Phillies are in town as that could put their playoff hopes on life support. But Philly only needs one more win to claim their first divisional title since 2011 so they surely are not backing down until the goggles are on and the champagne corks are popping. They are also currently tied with the Dodgers for the best record in the National League which means they are in contention to snare home field advantage throughout the league playoffs.

The Phillies are 1.5-run favorites tonight to clinch that elusive division pennant, and the Dodgers are also 1.5-run favorites at home against the Colorado Rockies to keep pace for the league title.

The Padres won the opening game of a 3-game set with the lowly Chicago White Sox, 3-2, as Chi-town South Side fell to 36-118 on the year.

The Diamondbacks have kept the Brewers out of the win column since Milwaukee clinched that NL Central title, winning 5-1 on Thursday and 7-4 on Friday.

In the AL Central, Cleveland tonight can trade-in its playoff spot for the division title if the Guardians win again at St. Louis after taking last night's game, 5-1. If the Guardians lose, they can still clinch with a Kansas City loss. The Royals have picked a bad time to lose a series, especially to be swept, when the Tigers took them for all three in Kansas City this past Monday-Wednesday. The Royals dropped another one last night, falling 2-1 at home to the San Francisco Giants.