By Evan Macy

Copyright phillyvoice

The Phillies won their second straight NL East title Monday while you were sleeping with a 6-5 win in 10 innings over the Dodgers in L.A.J.T. Realmuto’s sac fly plated Harrison Bader from third in the top of the 10th for the go-ahead run and David Robertson pitched out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam by getting Miguel Rojas to pop out and then Max Muncy to end the game on a groundout to Bryce Harper.

The victory gives the Phils a ridiculous 12.5 game lead over the Mets, with 11 games left to play. The race is over. The Phillies can celebrate.

On Aug. 27, just two and a half weeks ago, the Phillies were swept in Queens and a seven-game NL East Lead had evaporated to just four. This days before news that Zack Wheeler was finished for the year, and days before Alec Bohm and Trea Turner (a real MVP candidate) were added to the Injured List.

In the time since, the Phillies have gone 13-4, including six in a row (that included a four-game sweep at home of the Mets). New York has gone 4-13. The Phillies are NL East champs. The Mets are looking over their shoulders at the Giants, Reds Diamondbacks and Cardinals — all four teams are within four games of the last Wild card spot.

If they miss the playoffs this could go down as one of the all-time collapses.

Philadelphia overcame inconsistent pitching, a bullpen that was cause for headaches on a nightly basis, and an outfield that took months to finally become productive.

However, it isn’t time to start resting and preparing for October yet.

Though they have the second-best record in the National League by a decent margin (5.5 games over the Dodgers after Monday’s win) they still need to clinch a first-round playoff bye — which means the next magic number to watch is seven, the number they need to eliminate the Dodgers from home-field contention.

There are two games left in the series in Los Angeles, and winning the series would go a long way toward helping Philly sew up the right to skip a best of three first-round series. The Phillies will most certainly need to keep their foot on the gas for a little longer with meaningful games out west (the Diamondbacks follow the Dodgers).

The Phillies were two games behind Milwaukee for the No. 1 seed when Monday began, which is another extremely important milestone and one that could help them in their quest to win the World Series next month. Here’s a look at the remaining schedules for these three NL contenders:

The Dodgers have the toughest remaining slate of the three, facing four teams currently in postseason contention (bolded).

That No. 1 seed could be a big asset if the Phillies want to have their best chance at winning a World Series. They have had incredible play in their friendly confines this season. They have the best home win percentage (.680) of any team in the majors this season.

Heading into Monday, here’s a look at some of their numbers at home this season:

Home-field advantage will be huge for the Phillies in October. They didn’t have it in their World Series run in 2022, when they were the last Wild card team, but they blew home-field advantages in series against the Diamondbacks and Mets in 2023 and 2024, respectively. They were not as dominant at home in those seasons as they have been in 2025.

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