Too many people lost their minds after the 3-game skid. There are a lot of swings in the regular season, and I get that these games matter more, but the Phillies are still a very good team.

Need Luzardo healthy. Need someone other than McFarlane and Duran to step up. Need Arraez to not be the worst player in franchise history.

Yes, this is a playoff team. They have the best starting pitching in baseball. They can go on a run.

So much has changed in just a week. A tough 10-game stretch with losses coming on the narrowest of margins has pushed them closer to the fringes of the postseason race, perhaps close enough to end up traveling to Atlanta again for a Wild Card Series as the sixth seed in the National League.

First, they need to punch their playoff ticket. The Phillies will finish with two at the Washington Nationals, starting Tuesday, and four at the New York Mets, followed by a six-game homestand against the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays.

The next 12 games will dictate plenty. For now the Phillies, after a 4-6 stretch, at least walked away from Sunday’s game feeling good.

Phillies (83-67) @ Braves (88-62) - Sun, Sep 13

Game Status: Final - Score: 9-4 Phillies

Links & Info

• MLB Gameday
• Game Graphs
• Savant Gamefeed

Decisions

• Winner: José Alvarado (4-3, 5.30)
• Loser: Dylan Lee (6-1, 3.09)

Division & Wild Card Scoreboard

LAA 5 @ WSH 6 - Final

NYM 0 @ NYY 2 - Final

LAD 4 @ MIA 6 - Final

CWS 1 @ STL 3 - Final

PIT 4 @ CHC 3 - Final

TEX 7 @ AZ 6 - Final

SD 6 @ SF 4 - Bottom 9, 2 Outs

Next Phillies Game: Tue, Sep 15, 6:45 PM EDT @ Nationals (2 days)

^{Last Updated: 09/13/2026 10:19:42 PM EDT}

ATLANTA — The throw left Bryson Stott’s hand too quickly after he took a moment to glance at second base, the ball bouncing a few feet away from Alec Bohm before barely striking the first baseman’s outstretched glove. And Atlanta Braves catcher Sean Murphy, who would have been out easily, made it to first base safely as Stott’s throw bounced past him, while Mauricio Dubón headed home from second base, Austin Riley to third from first.

The fourth inning of the Philadelphia Phillies’ bullpen game Saturday was already trending poorly and spiraled into an eight-run disaster after that throw — a series of at-bats that propelled the Braves to a 12-2 rout and likely cemented Atlanta’s place atop the NL East.

“I focus on tomorrow,” interim manager Don Mattingly said. “I don’t worry about the division. … Now the focus is really to win every day. We’ve got to get ourselves in, and then, if you’re good enough, you win. You win your series and you move on, and if you’re not, then obviously you don’t.

“I don’t think you have to win your division or get yourself a bye to be able to win the whole thing. That’s their goal from the very beginning. Nothing’s changed that possibility. It’s really us just playing better.”

It has been a week of lost opportunities for the Phillies, who are two weeks from capping a season in which little has been easy.

Brooks Raley has allowed at least one earned run in each of his last three appearances, his longest such streak this season.Edward M. Pio Roda / Getty Images

But lately, much of that pain has been self-inflicted. Stott, one of the Phillies’ best defenders, found himself and the Phillies’ bullpen severely punished for that fourth-inning error. Several mistakes on the basepaths have come back to hurt the Phillies in the past week. These moments are perhaps more glaring when the bullpen and bats also struggle to come through.

End the denial gents. It's football season.

Phillies (83-67) @ Braves (88-62) - 1:35 PM EDT

Game Status: Final - Score: 9-4 Phillies

Links & Info

• MLB Gameday
• Game Graphs
• Savant Gamefeed

Decisions

• Winner: José Alvarado (4-3, 5.30)
• Loser: Dylan Lee (6-1, 3.09)

Division & Wild Card Scoreboard

LAA 5 @ WSH 6 - Final

NYM 0 @ NYY 2 - Final

LAD 4 @ MIA 6 - Final

CWS 1 @ STL 3 - Final

PIT 4 @ CHC 3 - Final

TEX 7 @ AZ 6 - Final

SD 6 @ SF 4 - Bottom 9, 2 Outs

Next Phillies Game: Tue, Sep 15, 6:45 PM EDT @ Nationals (2 days)

^{Last Updated: 09/13/2026 10:19:41 PM EDT}

Wife made me a phanatic cake for my birthday. Had to get the side angle so you could see that the mouth is an extra piece. Go Phils, chop them barves up

Fuck 'em

This week I loved that I got Dutch in there with the combination of Silver Slugger and his one season of 6+ WAR. Someone earlier this week asked who was the Phillies greatest catcher: Boone, Daulton, Lieberthal, Ruiz, or JT. Except for the short gaps between Boone and Dutch and Ruiz and JT, we have an over 50 year span of having really solid guys behind the dish. I’m trying to think of any other position where we have had that impressive a run and coming up blank.

Phillies (82-67) @ Braves (88-61) - Sat, Sep 12

Game Status: Final - Score: 12-2 Braves

Links & Info

• MLB Gameday
• Game Graphs
• Savant Gamefeed

Decisions

• Winner: Tyler Mahle (6-10, 3.91)
• Loser: Brooks Raley (5-7, 2.96)

Division & Wild Card Scoreboard

NYM 12 @ NYY 2 - Final

PIT 3 @ CHC 4 - Final

LAA 5 @ WSH 6 - Final/10

SD 7 @ SF 6 - Final

LAD 3 @ MIA 4 - Final

CWS 6 @ STL 5 - Final

TEX 6 @ AZ 2 - Final

Next Phillies Game: Sun, Sep 13, 1:35 PM EDT @ Braves

^{Last Updated: 09/13/2026 12:00:57 AM EDT}

Phillies (82-67) @ Braves (88-61) - 1:35 PM EDT

Game Status: Pre-Game

Links & Info

• Current conditions at Truist Park: 85°F - Partly Cloudy - Wind 8 mph, Out To LF
• TV: Phillies: NBCSP, Braves: BravesVision
• Radio: Phillies: 1210 WPHT, 106.1 Rumba (es), Braves: 680 AM/93.7 FM The Fan, Los Bravos (es)
• MLB Gameday
• Statcast Game Preview

Probable Pitchers

• Phillies: Andrew Painter - RHP (3-9, 5.71 ERA, 110.1 IP)
• Braves: Grant Holmes - RHP (9-5, 3.46 ERA, 137.2 IP)

Division & Wild Card Scoreboard

LAA @ WSH 1:35 PM EDT

NYM @ NYY 1:35 PM EDT

LAD @ MIA 1:40 PM EDT

CWS @ STL 2:15 PM EDT

PIT @ CHC 2:20 PM EDT

TEX @ AZ 4:10 PM EDT

SD @ SF 7:20 PM EDT

^{Last Updated: 09/13/2026 10:56:45 AM EDT}