Could the Phillies blow their playoff berth? How recent slump, surging D-backs have made wild-card race messy — SkimNews
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- Philadelphia Phillies saw their wild-card lead shrink from four games to one after three straight losses coincided with six consecutive wins by the Arizona Diamondbacks, who scored 48 runs during the streak (eight per game).
- Nolan Arenado hit his 30th home run in Friday's 11-4 win over San Diego, giving him nine homers in his last 17 games, while Geraldo Perdomo told MLB.com: 'Something magical is going to happen here.'
- Arizona holds the tiebreaker over Philadelphia after both teams finished the season series 3-3 — the Diamondbacks went 32-18 against the NL West versus the Phillies' 28-24 against the NL East, meaning Arizona only needs to pull even to claim the spot.
- Of nine possible weekend outcomes, six still favor Philadelphia, which controls its own destiny and could clinch as soon as Saturday with a win over Tampa Bay plus a D-backs loss to the Padres.
- Aaron Nola will start Saturday for the Phillies on just three days' rest after throwing 88 pitches Wednesday, with the outing expected to function more as a bullpen game featuring waiver-claim José Urquidy.
- Philadelphia faces a nightmare scenario if the race extends to Sunday: starting Zack Wheeler would remove him from Game 1 of the Wild Card Series, and the team has considered activating Jesús Luzardo (out since Sept. 7 with shoulder inflammation) for relief duty.
- Luis Arraez is sidelined with a left ankle sprain after twisting it on a play at first base Thursday, with interim manager Don Mattingly saying 'he was so sore this morning.'
Why it matters: Philadelphia enters the final two games with a one-game lead but no tiebreaker cushion, meaning any D-backs surge to even their record ejects the Phillies from October entirely and forces Arizona into a best-of-three Wild Card Series — the schedule disparity (Phillies face AL-best Tampa Bay while Arizona plays the Padres) and Nola pitching on three days' rest turn routine weekend games into elimination pressure.
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