Phillies earn first-round bye in playoffs, hold tiebreakers for No. 1 seed

PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies have a tradition that endures through good times and bad at Citizens Bank Park. Minutes before the final home game of the regular season, a player takes the microphone. He has to give a speech. Two years ago, Kyle Schwarber addressed the crowd, not knowing if the Phillies would play a home game in 2022. Last September, Trea Turner thanked the fans for their positivity as the Phillies clinched a wild-card spot.

This year, Brandon Marsh stepped onto the field. “We can’t do it without you,” Marsh said. “We’re looking forward to a lot of home games here in October.” Then he barked.

“AND WE HAVE TO LET THE DOGS EAT” 🔥

Brandon Marsh gets us ready for RED OCTOBER!! 🔴 photo.twitter.com/jQsg0XAS0n

— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) September 25, 2024

The Phillies know this now: They won’t play a playoff game until Oct. 5. They secured a first-round bye with Wednesday’s 9-6 win over the Chicago Cubs and the Milwaukee Brewers’ 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Phillies (94-65) will be no worse than No. 2. They can still finish with the best record in the National League and guarantee home-field advantage throughout the postseason. They have tiebreakers over both the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres, who are 93-64 and 91-66, respectively, going into their game on Wednesday night.

But the club won’t be pushing to the limit this weekend in Washington to clinch the No. 1 seed. The Phillies are keeping the rotation — Ranger Suarez, Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola — though all of those starters could have had their outings cut short. They are resting a number of regulars; Bryce Harper could sit on the bench for most of the weekend.

But that first place is a goal.

“If there’s a Game 7, we’re going to get it here,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “And I think that’s important.”

The Phillies sold out Citizens Bank Park for the 47th time in 80 home games (one fewer than usual, because of the trip to London). They finished with 3,308,638 in attendance — the sixth-highest total in franchise history. They went 54-27, the club’s second-highest home winning percentage since 1900.

GALLING DEEPER

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(Photo by Nick Castellanos: Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)