This past weekend’s dud of a series against the division-rival Atlanta Braves may have all but dashed the Philadelphia Phillies’ hopes of winning the division, but they have moved incrementally closer to securing a playoff berth for themselves. Sunday’s win, combined with losses from other contending teams, lowered the Phils’ magic number for a postseason spot down to just nine games on Monday, with 12 left to play.
Magic numbers give baseball fans a tangible way to quantify their favorite team’s path to the postseason by combining the necessary amount of wins and opponents’ losses needed for that club to mathematically ensure that they’ll play meaningful baseball in October. The Phillies entered the series in Atlanta with a magic number of 12 and worked that figure down to nine games by the end of the three-game set.
Monday serves as a much-needed off day for an exhausted Phillies squad before they head to the nation’s capital to take on the Nationals for three games. After that, the Phils will fly up to New York for a three-game slate against the Mets, giving them six straight contests against teams that have no hope of taking part in playoff baseball. That should be welcome news...