Phillies punch ticket to postseason by clobbering Mets originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
NEW YORK – They say third time’s a charm.
After coming up short on consecutive nights to get a championship, the Phillies finally broke through the barrier, jumping the first of three important goals in the team’s last year’s series – to reach the playoffs.
The Phillies punched their ticket to the playoffs for the third consecutive season with a strong 12-2 victory over the Mets. It’s only the third time the Phillies have made a back-to-back appearance in three consecutive seasons (1967-78, 2007-11).
There were a few glasses of champagne spilled, Rob Thomson hit his club but other than that, it was business as usual in the clubhouse.
With big goals looming, Topper wanted to take a moment and share his gratitude for his team.
“It’s hard to get to this point,” Thomson said. “There are a lot of really good teams out there. You have to overcome obstacles, whether it’s travel, or injuries or birth, whatever it is. These guys did that. These guys are tough. I wanted to thank them. I wanted to thank our staff … I wanted to toast them.”
Red October is your destination…but there are a few places to stop along the way.
Friday marked Sanchez’s 30th start of the season — he’s the first left-handed pitcher to make 30 starts since Cole Hamels in 2014. Sanchez’s 2024 numbers have been extraordinary — and in his 14th start at any unnamed location. Citizens Bank Park – those problems continued quickly (although they subsided soon after).
In his third hit of the night, he gave up a home run to Jose Inglesias. This was his first game for Inglesias in his fourth game of the season.
Sanchez was unable to retire the next two batters he faced and the Phillies exited the first inning with a two-run deficit for the second straight night. consecutive. Not good.
What *was* appropriate … was to see the Phillies’ immediate response. Alec Bohm and Nick Castellanos had back-to-back singles followed by Pete Alonso missing a routine popup from JT Realmuto to load the bases with no outs.
Only one run crossed the plate on Edmundo Sosa’s sacrifice fly. If they didn’t win that game, that would come back to them.
The double production in New York was a nice change of pace. Five of the six runs they scored on Thursday night came with two outs. Their second outing Friday night was similar.
Bryce Harper and Bohm singled in the third. Harper scored on Castellanos’ double but a wild catcher caught Luis Torrens off guard – so Bohm tried to score. The ball bounced off the wall back to Torrens … and the only thing that hit more was Bohm as he tried to avoid a tag from Mets pitcher David Peterson.
Strongly, he tried to deflect the strike by coming out of his slider to jump Peterson and touch the plate. It was an impressive effort but Bohm was eventually tagged. If they didn’t win the game, *that* would come back to them.
At this point, the Phillies were meeting at the plate, Sanchez was coming off his best youth night… and then, the Baseball Gods arrived.
Sosa and Weston Wilson were in scoring position when Johan Rojas drilled the ball past Mark Vientos in the third row. Fortunately for the Mets, the ball boy behind him didn’t have a problem. Of course, he thought it was rubbish.
With both runners scoring, the Phillies took their first lead of the series and exploded for six innings, including a three-run home run off Bohm.
Remember those Sanchez fights in the first inning? Good kiss.
He found himself in a jam in the bottom of the fifth inning, loading the bases with two outs by giving up two walks and two outs … but he got out unscathed.
The magic number to win the division now sits at one.
If the Phillies are able to split at least a four-game series with the Mets, they will head home for the final home run of the regular season with their first title since 2011.
Two years ago, Ranger Suarez pitched out of the bullpen to save out of the NLCS to send his team to the World Series.
Saturday, he’ll have a chance to set the tone in October and get his team to the NL East crown.
Suarez has been limping since returning from the 15-day injured list on August 24 for lower back pain. In his first five seasons, the left-handed pitcher is 2-2 with a 4.44 ERA. He has gone more than five innings deep once.
So, how can we be so sure that “Mr. Rager” is the one who will complete this task?
When the lights are at their brightest, when the numbers are at their highest, you see the same Ranger as any other night. No pressure. There is no pulse. Just locked and ready to go.
We’ll see if that’s the case tomorrow.
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