Reeling Phillies have one more game to save their season

PHILADELPHIA -- One way or another, it ends on Sunday.

The Phillies will either clinch an NL Wild Card and a fifth consecutive trip to the postseason following the 162nd game of the regular season, or they will suffer the second-worst collapse in franchise history, miss the playoffs entirely and enter an offseason of potentially seismic changes for a franchise with one of the highest payrolls in baseball history.

The Phillies lost to the Rays on Saturday night at Citizens Bank Park, 12-1, but they still have a one-game lead over Arizona with one game to play. If the Phillies win on Sunday, they’re in. If they lose, they’re in if Arizona loses.

But if Arizona wins and the Phillies lose, they’re out.

“Two weeks ago, I wouldn't guess that we'd be in this situation,” J.T. Realmuto said. “But that's this game. It knows how to humble you. So hopefully, we can come out of this better tomorrow, get in the postseason and get hot then.”

Fortunately for the Phillies, Zack Wheeler will start on Sunday.

“I didn't really picture this, having to do this,” Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said. “But you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do, and if that's what it takes for us to get in, then it's all square. It's all even.”

But Wheeler might need to be perfect on Sunday. The Phillies’ offense snapped a 21-inning scoreless streak with an unearned run in the seventh inning. It was their longest scoreless streak since June 22-26, 2025, when they went 26 innings without scoring a run. They have scored three runs during their four-game losing streak.

“Honestly, you’ll probably think I'm crazy,” Mattingly said, “but tonight I thought … in a game like that, our guys fought the whole way.”

The Phillies were in a three-way tie with the Padres and Cubs on Tuesday with five games to play. Arizona was four games behind them.

Back then, when everything was normal, the Phillies shuffled their rotation, moving Andrew Painter to Thursday and Cristopher Sánchez to Friday. It allowed Philadelphia to pitch Painter out of the bullpen this weekend, if the situation presented itself, and Sánchez to start Game 2 of the NL Wild Card Series on Wednesday.

To make those plans work, the Phillies pushed their bullpen game to Saturday.

The Phillies needed a bullpen game because left-hander Jesús Luzardo is on the 15-day injured list with inflammation in his left elbow and because they have no starters in their system good enough to help. It’s why the Phils claimed right-hander José Urquidy off waivers from the White Sox last week and why they signed right-hander Nestor Cortes in August.

But Cortes didn’t show enough to earn a promotion. And Urquidy, who was designated for assignment twice this season, was too risky to start.

So the Phillies started Aaron Nola on short rest for the first time in his career. Nola’s second-half turnaround has been one of the team’s best storylines. He had a 6.04 ERA in 17 starts through June 29, but a 3.12 ERA in his final 15 starts before Saturday.

“If anybody's built for this, it’s probably Nola,” Mattingly said before the game. “He’s a guy that's more old school than anybody.”

But Nola allowed a leadoff double to Yandy Díaz, a two-out, two-run home run to Junior Caminero and back-to-back doubles to Victor Mesa Jr. and Richie Palacios to put the Phillies into a 3-0 hole.

Fans booed.

They didn’t stop booing as the offense did nothing and the bullpen allowed nine runs to turn the game into a rout.

Mattingly was asked if somebody needs to do something before Sunday’s game to rally the team.

“Throw a table?” Mattingly said. “That usually doesn't work. But I think our guys are ready. We’ll be ready to play tomorrow. It's been a year. It's been an up-and-down year. Hopefully, we've got a chance to be able to take care of business tomorrow.”

This whole thing is difficult to believe. The Phillies were 79-60 after the games of Sept. 1. They had the fourth-best record in the NL, a 6 1/2-game lead over Arizona for the third NL Wild Card and a 99.7% chance to make the postseason, according to FanGraphs.

It’s down to one game now.

“We’ve got to let today go,” said Realmuto, who is in an 0-for-34 slump. “We’ve got to let yesterday go. We’ve got to let the last two weeks go. We’ve just got to win the game tomorrow. That's what matters.

“In our minds, tomorrow it's got to be win or go home. If we don't do our job tomorrow, we're probably going home. That’s obviously not what this group wants, and that's not what we believed was in the cards for us. So we’ve got to come out and play our best baseball tomorrow. That's really all there is to it.”