It’s going to be a Red October for the city of Philadelphia again. The Phillies not only clinched a wild-card spot, but they clinched the top wild-card seed and will host all games in the second year of the NL wild-card series. Game 1 is Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park.
The defending National League Champions are now poised to make another magical postseason run.
Last night in front of the home crowd, the Phillies defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-2 in ten innings to punch their postseason ticket.
Phillies rookie center fielder Johan Rojas won the game with an RBI single off Pirates reliever David Bednar that scored pinch-runner Christian Pache.
Brandon Marsh homered for the Phillies and Bryce Harper added a sacrifice fly to account for their other runs.
When the Phillies signed prize free agent Bryce Harper back in 2019, it was to bring the franchise back to the postseason and win a World Championship. A mission that was almost accomplished last season.
Harper has been everything the Phillies could ever ask for. He has ushered in a new era of success for the franchise.
Free Agents, Nick Castellanos, Kyle Schwarber, Zack Wheeler an Trea Turner have joined Harper in Philadelphia. Trades for players like, J.T. Realmuto and Brandon Marsh along with young players such as, Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott have been keys to the resurgence.
There is no doubt that Citizens Bank Park will be rocking. Postseason baseball is the best. Manager Rob Thomson addressed the team during locker room celebration with a message for the postseason.
“This is just the start,” Thomson said. “This team is built for where we’re going. Getting there is the tough part. Now we’ve got to finish this thing off.”
Photo courtesy of Philadelphia Phillies – Twitter/X
