By Geoff Mosher

Copyright phillyvoice

Many fans were sleeping when the Phillies clinched the NL East on, well, Tuesday morning – well after 1 a.m. – with a 10th-inning win over the Dodgers.

Likewise, folks were probably shocked on Wednesday to discover that the Phillies had beaten the Dodgers again in the second game of a three-game set despite trailing 4-0 after four innings and generating no offense against Shohei Ohtani.

The hangover should’ve been expected as the Phillies partied hard after their Monday night/Tuesday morning division-clinching win, but the Phillies beat up on the Los Angeles bullpen, scoring all nine runs off five different Dodgers relievers in the 9-6 win.

Bryce Harper’s two-run double, Brandon Marsh’s three-run homer and Max Kepler’s two-run shot highlighted a six-run fifth inning for the Phils, and Rafael Marchán’s improbable three-run homer in the ninth broke a 6-6 tie. Jhoan Duran, who blew the save in Game 1, needed just 12 pitches to mow down the Dodgers for his 31st save.

Here’s the big blast from Marchán, who started in place of J.T. Realmuto:

In rallying back, the Phillies actually secured another milestone for the season – they ensured that any tiebreaker between them and the Dodgers in the National League playoffs would favor the Phillies.

The Phillies, who will finish their six-game season series against the Dodgers tonight, have taken four of the five games so far and can finish no worse than 4-2, giving them a head-to-head advantage in a tiebreaker scenario.

Is it moot? Probably, as the Phillies entered Wednesday’s action 6.5 games ahead of the Dodgers, who would fall into the Wild Card round as the third-ranked divisional leader. The Phillies also own any tiebreaker over the Cubs, who currently sit in the top Wild Card spot, 3.5 games behind the Phils, who also own the tiebreaker against them thanks to a 4-2 series win.

The Phils also entered Wednesday 1.5 games behind the Brewers for the top seed, but the Phils went 1-5 against the Brew Crew this season, so any tiebreaker would favor Milwaukee.

Another injury

As if the recent losses of Trea Turner and Alec Bohm weren’t enough, the Phillies took another hit to the infield when they placed Edmundo Sosa on the 10-day Injured List before Tuesday’s game with a groin strain.

Per Destiny Lugardo of Phillies Nation, Sosa’s groin strain is considered minor:

The infield prospect they called up from Triple-A, Rafael Lantigua, was slashing .252/.359/.333 in 124 games with the IronPigs. He had seven HRs and 56 RBIs to go along with 17 SBs.

Painter improvement?

Top Phils prospect Andrew Painter didn’t get that call-up that the Phillies had predicted in the spring would come in July, but he’s on the mound for the IronPigs at home Wednesday against Syracuse, trying to string together two positive outings.

In his last start, Sept. 10 at Scranton/Wilkes Barre, he scattered three hits and didn’t allow a run through five innings. He also struck out six in a 74-pitch effort – one of his sharpest outings of late. Painter had given up six runs in each of his prior two starts as his ERA ballooned to 5.62, the highest it’s been this season.

Painter is 1-1 in three starts this season against the Syracuse Mets, allowing 10 runs in 15.1 innings against them with 10 strikeouts and just three walks, but he’s also allowed six homers.

SIGN UP HERE to receive PhillyVoice’s Sports newsletters.

Follow Geoff on Twitter/X: @itssnick