The Final Stretch: Looking at the Phillies remaining 27 games and race to be crowned National League East Champions

The Phillies will send Zack Wheeler (12-6, 2.74 ERA) to the mound for game three of four against the Braves tonight at The Bank. Atlanta will counter with Max Fried (8-7, 3.50) as the Major League Baseball schedule is set to roll into the month of September.

The Phillies currently hold a five-game lead in the National League East over the Atlanta Braves with 27 games left in the regular season.

If they split the next two games, the Phillies will enter the final with a five game lead and 25 games left on the schedule – meaning the Phillies could finish 12-13 and the Atlanta Braves would have to finish 17-8 to at minimum tie them in the final division standings.

Phillies NL East Standings:

Phillies Remaining Schedule: 

• Atlanta Braves at Philadelphia Phillies (2 Games) 
• Toronto Blue Jays at Philadelphia Phillies (2 Games) 
• Philadelphia Phillies at Miami Marlins (3 Games) 
• Tampa Bay Rays at Philadelphia Phillies (3 Games) 
• New York Mets at Philadelphia Phillies (3 Games) 
• Philadelphia Phillies at Milwaukee Brewers (3 Games) 
• Philadelphia Phillies at New York Mets (3 Games)
• Chicago Cubs at Philadelphia Phillies (3 Games) 
• Philadelphia Phillies at Washington Nationals (3 Games) 

The Phillies schedule does lighten up after a tough ending to the August slate. They have two more against the Braves and will remain at home for two more against the Toronto Blue Jays before hitting the road to face the Marlins for three.

From there, they return home to face the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Mets. The Phillies will play three in Milwaukee against the Brewers, three at New York and host the Chicago Cubs for three more before ending the regular season against the Washington Nationals.

Win/Loss Prediction – Reaching 13 More Wins…

The Phillies will ultimately split a two-game series against the Blue Jays. They will win the series against the Marlins, Rays, and Mets before a signature “collapse series” against the Brewers where they lose 2-of-3.

From there, they’ll probably drop 2-of-3 on the road against the Mets and take 2-of-3 from the Cubs before ending the season, assuming they need to actually play it, taking 2-of-3 from the Nationals.

That’s 13 wins – forcing the Atlanta Braves to go at least 18-7 in order to tie (and win) the NL East with a tiebreaker over the Phillies. Obviously, a sweep along the way would help and two sweeps would be even better.

Clearly, the time to go on a run starts now. Outside of the Braves, the Mets, Brewers, and Cubs are the only teams left on the schedule, with the Braves (Wild Card) and Brewers (NL Central) the only two teams currently holding a spot in the postseason.

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