Phillies playoff picture, magic number tracker

Updated following all relevant on Sept. 25.

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Red October is almost here.

The Phillies have 6 games left in the regular season. Here’s a primer on what the Phillies need to do to secure a second straight postseason berth and home field advantage in the Wild Card round.

Remaining Schedule

• 3 vs. PIT
• 3 @ NYM

Every Phillies clinching scenario on Tuesday

The Phillies can clinch a postseason berth on Tuesday, Sept. 26 with a …

• Win over Pirates OR
• Cubs loss against Braves OR
• Marlins loss against Mets OR
• Diamondbacks loss against White Sox

The Phillies can also clinch the top Wild Card spot in the National League and home field advantage in the Wild Card series on Tuesday with a …

• Win over Pirates AND
• Cubs loss against Braves OR Brewers win over Cardinals

If the Phillies lose on Tuesday, they can still clinch the top Wild Card spot on Tuesday with a …

• Cubs loss against Braves AND
• Marlins loss against Mets AND
• Diamondbacks loss against White Sox

If the Phillies win on Tuesday, but do not clinch the top Wild Card spot, they can clinch that spot on Wednesday with a …

• Win over Pirates OR
• Cubs loss against Braves OR Brewers win over Cardinals

Road to the First Wild Card

The Phillies currently have a 5.0 game lead (and the tiebreaker) over the Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago Cubs for the first Wild Card spot in the National League. The Diamondbacks and Cubs are currently tied for the second NL Wild Card spot, but since Arizona holds the tiebreaker against Chicago, the higher seed is awarded to the Diamondbacks.

The magic number to clinch the top Wild Card spot in the National League and home field advantage in the opening playoff series for the Phillies is 2.

If the season ended today, the Phillies would host the Arizona Diamondbacks for a best-of-three Wild Card series at Citizens Bank Park from Oct. 3 to Oct. 5. All three games would take place in Philadelphia. The winner would advance to the Division Series and face the Atlanta Braves in a best-of-five series beginning on Oct. 7 at Truist Park.

The magic number to clinch a postseason berth for the Phillies is 1.

• Magic Number over Cubs/Brewers: 2
• Magic Number over Diamondbacks: 1
• Magic Number over Marlins: 1

The Reds, Giants and Padres cannot finish above the Phillies in the standings.

The magic number over the Cubs is technically 2 instead of 1 because Chicago is still alive in the NL Central. If the Cubs win out and Brewers lose out, the Cubs would win the division. In that scenario, the Brewers would finish in a Wild Card spot with 88 wins. Since the Phillies do not hold the tiebreaker against the Brewers, they would need to win 2 more games to finish above the Brewers with 89 wins in that scenario.

The earliest possible date the Phillies could clinch a postseason berth is Tuesday, Sept. 26. The earliest possible date the Phillies could clinch the top Wild Card spot in the National League is also Tuesday, Sept. 26.

Tiebreakers

The Phillies have the first tiebreaker (head-to-head record) over the following Wild Card contenders:

• Chicago Cubs
• Arizona Diamondbacks
• Cincinnati Reds

If the Phillies finish with the same record as any of these teams above, the Phillies will get the higher seed by virtue of winning the season series.

The Phillies do not have the first tiebreaker against these teams.

• Miami Marlins
• San Francisco Giants
• Milwaukee Brewers

If the Phillies finish with the same record as any of these teams above, the other team will get the higher seed by virtue of winning the season series.

Here are all the other key tiebreakers to keep in mind:

• In addition to holding the tiebreaker against the Phillies, the Miami Marlins hold the tiebreaker against the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks.
• The Arizona Diamondbacks hold the tiebreaker against the Chicago Cubs.
• The Cincinnati Reds hold the tiebreaker against the Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago Cubs.

Here are the current NL Wild Card standings:

1. Phillies: 87-69 — +5.0 (6 to play)
2. Diamondbacks: 82-74 — (6 to play)
3. Cubs: 82-74 — (6 to play)
4. Marlins 81-75 (6 to play)
5. Reds: 80-77 — (5 to play)

Answer this week’s sports trivia question for a chance to win free Philadelphia sports apparel.

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