Brandon Marsh and Johan Rojas share a laugh after the fifth inning en route to the Phillies win and first NL East title since 2011., and also little of consequence. Nothing is materially different now than it was at this time last year. Last year, they entered the playoffs needing to a three-game Wild Card series at home in order to advance to the divisional round. That outcome is still in play this year.
The Phillies have plenty of margin for error. At 93-64, they are 3½ games ahead of the Brewers for the all-important second postseason seed. With five games to play they need only two Milwaukee losses, or two wins of their own, or one of each. It would take a disastrous confluence of circumstances for things to break wrong.
“I think everyone understands the progression of the goals,” Thomson said. “The next one is to win the division. We can’t get the bye unless we win the division … The two biggest things for me are winning the division and getting the bye. And then if we get homefield throughout, that’s a bonus. But I won’t put players in danger to get that.”
For one night, at least, all that mattered was the present moment. It had been 13 years since the Phillies last won the division. It had been 13 years since they’d added another white flag to the center field wall. It had been 13 years since they’d had a season like this. It’s easy to forget that, isn’t it? Aberth followed by a second straight National League Championship Series — they have a way of making you forget about the regular season.