Aug 3, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sanchez and first baseman Bryce Harper smile during a game against the Detroit Tigers at Citizens Bank Park. (Grace Del Pizzo/On Pattison)
PHILADELPHIA — With their 5-0 loss to Mick Abel and the Minnesota Twins Saturday night, the Phillies are locked into the No. 2 seed for the upcoming NL playoffs.
Entering the weekend, the Phillies needed to win out and have the Milwaukee Brewers lose out to steal the top seed in the senior circuit. Things fell as the Phillies hoped Friday, but the loss by Ranger Suárez and company Saturday snapped any chance of the Phillies overtaking the Brewers.
The good news for the Phillies is that with the second seed, they will still have a first-round bye and home-field advantage in the NLDS. The Los Angeles Dodgers will play either the Cincinnati Reds or New York Mets in the NLWCS, with the winner of that series coming to Citizens Bank Park for Game 1 of the NLDS on Saturday, Oct. 4.
It will be interesting to see how the Phillies operate Sunday now that the game will be meaningless. They don't want to completely take the day off because they won't play again until the following Saturday. But obviously, it's important to be careful with health. Cristopher Sánchez — who will start Game 1 of the NLDS — is going to start Sunday, but is unlikely to have a full workload given the stakes, or lack thereof, of the game.
