The Philadelphia Phillies are set to play one final regular season game for the 2024 season. They’re looking to take the series win against a Chicago Cubs team with playoff aspirations heading into the season, but have fallen short of that goal.
Season Series
The Phillies are leading the season series 3-2, losing the final game of the Chicago half of the series and then losing last night in Philadelphia. They have been beating Chicago, but 2/3 of the games were decided by two runs. It’s too close for two teams on opposite sides of the season outlook.
They’ve scored 23 runs in all five games but allowed the Cubs to score 29 runs. They are batting .251 with a .296 OBP and are slugging just .461 with nine home runs against the Cubs.
Despite losing 10-2 last night, the Phillies are batting .281/.343/.516/.858 this series with four home runs. Seven of their 18 hits this series have been for extra bases, they just haven’t been able to bring them home at the rate they would probably like to. They clinched the NL East on Monday, so yesterday’s result was to be expected. The celebrations are over (for now) and it’s back to business for the Phillies.
Players to Watch
Bryce Harper has only faced the Cubs these last two games this season, but he’s batting .571/.625/.1.143/1.768 in those two games. If they want to win the series and do their part in locking up the bye into the NLDS, they will need Bryce Harper to continue doing what he has been doing in this series.
As for the Cubs, Cody Bellinger has been doing his fair share of hitting against the Phillies this season. He is batting .400/.455/.600/1.055 against them. He has only faced Cristopher Sánchez three times in his entire career. He is 1-2 with a walk in those three appearances.
Pitching Matchup
The Cubs will be starting Javier Assad, a 27-year-old righty who has played all three big league years with Chicago. He is 7-5 with a 3.34 ERA in 28 games this season. He has already pitched 33.1 innings more than he has in his entire career. It will be interesting to see how he does pitch against the Phillies in his final start of the year. He is 1-0 without an earned run and five strikeouts in his two appearances against the Phillies in his career.
The Phillies are starting lefty Cristopher Sánchez, a pitcher who has pleasantly surprised a lot of the fanbase this season. His one appearance against the Cubs, however, did not go as well as the rest of his season has. He allowed seven runs on seven hits with three walks on the July 4th game this season. They’re going to need a better outing from Sánchez if they want to win the game tonight.
Phillies Playoff Implications
If the Phillies win this game, and the Brewers lose against the Pirates tonight, they get to skip the wild card and head straight to the NLDS. The Phillies mostly control their seeding, which they haven’t had the past two years they have made the postseason.
Photo Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
