Magic Numbers: Phillies sweep Mets, push NL East lead to 11 games

It’s all but official now. The Phillies will be your 2025 NL East champs, all that’s left is the paperwork.

The Phils wrapped up a four-game sweep of the Mets on Thursday night with a 6-4 comeback win at Citizens Bank Park, pushing their division lead to 11 games with just 15 left on the schedule.

The Mets rolled into Philly thinking they were still in this race.

Four games later, they’re cooked.

Jesús Luzardo got tagged for four runs in the first inning and looked like he was about to sink the ship. Instead, he locked in and retired 22 straight batters to finish eight innings and walk away with his 14th win of the year. Jhoan Duran slammed the door in the ninth for save No. 29.

Jesus Luzardo locks in, The Fightins sweep Mets and stretch NL East lead to 11 games

Meanwhile, the bats chipped away. Rookie Otto Kemp tied it with an RBI double in the sixth, Harrison Bader put the Phils ahead with a single, and Bryce Harper added another knock to make it stick. By the end, CBP was rocking like October.

Phillies Magic Numbers

• NL East: 5
• Playoff berth: 3
• First-round bye: 12

The Phillies entered this series with a magic number of 13 to clinch the East. Facing the Mets head-to-head meant the opportunity to slice that down by eight if they swept.

They did exactly that.

Up Next for the Phillies

Philly could technically clinch the division as soon as this weekend if things break perfectly, they’d need to take care of business against Kansas City and get some help with the Mets stumbling against Texas. Either way, it’s coming soon.

Oh, and by the way, the Phillies are only 2.5 games back of Milwaukee for the No. 1 seed in the NL. That means home-field advantage throughout the postseason is still in play.

Schedule Watch

• Sept. 12–14: vs. Royals
• Sept. 15–17: at Dodgers
• Sept. 19–21: at Diamondbacks
• Sept. 23–25: vs. Marlins
• Sept. 26–28: vs. Twins

The Phillies haven’t won back-to-back division titles since the five-year run from 2007–2011. Back then, it was Red Octobers and parade talk every fall. With this group? It feels like we’re heading right back there.

Magic number is five. Red October is coming.

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