The Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers are playoff bound.
The Phillies entered Tuesday a win away from clinching a wild-card spot and got one in dramatic fashion with a 3-2 extra-innings victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Johan Rojas knocked in Cristian Pache from second base with a walk-off single in the 10th inning to secure the win.
They’ll enter the postseason as the No. 4 seed and have home-field advantage in the wild-card round after the Milwaukee Brewers clinched the NL Central later in the evening. The Brewers lost to the St Louis Cardinals, but clinched the division after the Atlanta Braves beat the Chicago Cubs, 7-6 with a late rally. The Cubs remain alive in the wild-card race.
Phillies take early lead, then forced to extra innings
The Phillies were in position to win Tuesday’s game in regulation after taking a 2-0 lead into the seventh inning.
Center fielder Brandon Marsh broke a scoreless tie in the sixth with a solo home run in the sixth of off Pirates starter Mitch Keller. The shot to center field broke up a no-hitter.
Bryce Harper then scored Kyle Schwarber on a sacrifice fly that gave the Phillies a 2-0 lead. But the Pirates rallied to tie the game with a pair of home runs. Bryan Reynolds hit a solo home run off of starter Aaron Nola in the seventh inning. Then catcher Henry Davis hit another off of closer Craig Kimbrel in the eighth, setting the game up for the extra-innings dramatics.
The Phillies clinch the No. 4 seed and the top wild-card spot thanks to their 88-69 record. The NL East title has been out of reach since the Braves claimed it on Sept. 13.
The postseason berth is a second straight for the Phillies after they made a surprise run to the World Series last year as a wild-card team. The lost to the Houston Astros, 4-2 in the World Series.
That playoff berth was the franchise’s first since 2011, which capped a run of five straight trips to the postseason that included a World Series victory in 2008.