PHILADELPHIA — The plastic sheeting was tucked above the Phillies’ lockers after Sunday’s game, just as it had been earlier that morning.
Beneath it, players’ chairs were scattered. Almost all were turned toward the TVs in the center of the room. Many were empty. Players who remained were watching the Eagles play on the TVs. Others were quietly grabbing their bags, readying for a cross-country flight and a week on the West Coast.
Wherever the champagne and beer were, they went untouched. The plastic sheeting to protect the lockers and players’ belongings from spray and showers turned out to be unnecessary. The Phillies, who would have clinched the National League East with a win or a New York Mets loss on Sunday, did not. They fell 10-3 to the Kansas City Royals, and the Mets walked off against the Texas Rangers in extra innings.
“We always want to do any type of big game, clinch game in front of our fan base,” starter Aaron Nola said. “Makes it that much more fun. But it didn’t happen today, and that’s baseball.”
The Phillies, over the past few days, made clear they wanted to win the NL East at home. It felt improbable last Monday, when their magic number sat at 13 and Trea Turner and Alec Bohm hit the injured list. Then, their make-shift lineup took off and their pitchers delivered. They never seemed out of a game, and the Mets collapsed.
When the Phillies showed up at Citizens Bank Park on Sunday morning, the magic number was down to one. Nola, who was on the mound when the Phillies clinched the division last year, was pitching again. Harrison Bader, who has been electric since joining the team, was leading off again. The breeze was light, the sky a cloudless blue, the crowd a loud 42,000-plus. Anything felt possible.
After all, the Phillies had won six straight. The Mets had lost eight in a row. What was one more for either team?
First-inning home runs by Kyle Schwarber (his 52nd of the season) and J.T. Realmuto gave the Phillies an early 2-0 lead. (Heather Barry / Getty Images)
It all felt within reach when the offense opened with two homers and Nola faced the minimum in his first three innings. He looked as though he’d found something, just as he did Monday against the Mets. He was locating his pitches better. His velocity sat near his season average. The results were better.
Then came the sixth. The Royals had three straight hits off Nola’s fastball, all in the zone, two middle-middle. Salvador Perez cleared the bases with a home run to give Kansas City a 6-2 lead. Things had spiraled, once again, for Nola, and the Phillies’ make-shift lineup, which had stepped up throughout much of the week, did not bail him out this time.
The bright lights, under which Nola is often at his best, were instead trained on him after the game in a quiet clubhouse. The local TV cameras, anticipating a division title, had gathered. They focused on the man who has seen so much over 11 seasons in Philadelphia but was not up to the task Sunday.
“I feel good,” Nola said about his recent outings. “Body feels good. Just got to limit that one (big) inning, like I keep saying. But I’m gonna keep working, and keep having good weeks, and keep trying to sharpen things up.”
The Royals celebrate after Jac Caglianone’s two-run homer in the fifth tied the score. Aaron Nola allowed four more runs in the sixth inning. (Heather Barry / Getty Images)
It is likely too late to prove anything in terms of the postseason rotation. What Cristopher Sánchez, Jesús Luzardo and Ranger Suárez have delivered in the past month-plus makes them leading candidates to anchor an NLDS rotation.
Their strong starts last week, and Nola’s on Monday, were part of why Sunday started as it did: full of hope. Even when the Phillies lost in a blowout, that hope remained. The Mets and Rangers game played on the scoreboard for the handful of fans left who wished to stay for it. The Mets had lost in devastating fashion earlier in the week. Perhaps it could happen again.
It did not. On the upside, the Phillies did become the second team to claim a playoff spot, after the Los Angeles Dodgers blew out the San Francisco Giants, making it four straight years in the postseason. It could have been a bit sweeter, though.
“It would have been nice to win a game at home to clinch (the division),” manager Rob Thomson said, “but it didn’t happen. So we’ve just got to move on.”
They must. The club is headed to Los Angeles, where a three-game series could play a significant role in determining who gets a first-round bye in the National League. The Phillies are five games up on the Dodgers for the second seed, and they are two games behind the Milwaukee Brewers for the first. They want the bye more than anything, and the top seed would be nice, too. Winning some games against the Dodgers would go a long way.
“We’ve got a lot of things that we want to do,” Kyle Schwarber said. “Do we wish that we could have done it here? Absolutely. But we’ve got a lot of baseball left, and we’ve got to keep playing well and playing our style.”
The Phillies’ style, as of late, has led them to a week’s worth of events that seemed unlikely. Crazy comebacks? Check. Seven perfect innings after a four-run first? Check. The recalled rookie from Triple-A driving in meaningful runs? Check. The outfield becoming one of the Phillies’ greatest strengths? Check.
Who knows what will happen in L.A., where the Phillies will face one of the NL’s strongest teams. Maybe the champagne and beer will finally flow, the Mets officially vanquished. Winning the division for two years in a row would be a major accomplishment. There will be plenty to celebrate. Whatever happens, there is plenty left on the line.
(Top photo of Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper: Kyle Ross / Imagn Images)