Phillies fans shouldn’t complain. Their team has the second-best record in baseball and has won six of its last seven games.

But they missed a golden opportunity to clinch the NL East in front of their home fans Sunday. With Aaron Nola on the hill looking for his fourth regular-season playoff clinching win in four seasons, the Phils were beaten down 10-3 by the Royals.

However a gift from the Dodgers in sunny California has punched their postseason ticket — the Giants’ loss officially places the Phillies in the NL playoff bracket along with the Brewers.

The Mets finally won against the Rangers, ending a nine-game losing streak and prolonging the inevitable as the Phillies’ magic number remains at one to win the division. 

Here’s an updated look at the Phillies current playoff scenarios:

Clinching a playoff berth ✅

UPDATE: As we mentioned up top, the Phillies have checked this first box.

The Phillies need to win one game, or have the Giants lose one game for them to officially be in the playoff field. That’s it. It’s an independent situation from winning the division title. The Giants and Dodgers square off at 4 p.m. on the West Coast and we’ll update this space after that game concludes. 

If San Francisco does prevail, here’s a look at the Phillies’ remaining schedule for earning their clinch. The Giants play their next three games in Arizona before four more with the Dodgers.

OpponentRecordat Dodgers (3)84-65at Diamondbacks (3)75-75vs. Marlins (3)70-80vs. Twins (3)65-84Clinching the NL East

The magic number is just one. One Mets loss to the Padres or one Phillies win in Los Angeles over the next three days means the Phillies are division champs. If things progress further than that it might be time to worry — the Mets’ slate of games is listed further below. The Phils currently lead the NL East by 12 games with 12 remaining but the Mets have the tiebreaker thanks to their winning the season series. 

The No. 1 seed

Dominant play of late, despite the injuries of Zack Wheeler, Alec Bohm and Trea Turner, actually have the Phillies in the mix to catch the Brewers for the No. 1 overall seed in the NL. They trail by just two games heading into Monday, so it’s still not super likely, but there are some major advantages if they can keep their feet on the gas and try and catch them.

In addition to landing home field advantage for the entire playoffs (they lead the top AL team in the standings by two games currently), the Phillies would face the winner of the 4-vs-5 Wild card series, currently the Cubs and Padres. Those two opponents might be more desirable than the winner of the 3-vs-6 series, currently the Dodgers and the Mets, based on the Phillies’ recent struggles at Citi Field. The Dodgers are the defending World Series champions. 

Here’s a look at the Brewers’ remaining slate of games:

OpponentRecordvs. Angels (3)69-81at Cardinals (3)71-77at Padres (3)81-68vs. Reds (3)74-75

It’s not a cakewalk slate — but with Milwaukee holding the tiebreaker (they won four of six games against the Phillies this season) the Phillies need to finish with three more wins than them down the stretch. So if the Brewers finish 6-6, Philadelphia would need to finish 9-3. 

The flailing Mets

Philly’s rivals to the north have become less intimidating this week as they’ve been thoroughly dominated, but fans should still be rooting for their continued demise. The Reds and Giants are hot on NY’s tail. The Giants are just 1.5 games behind the Mets for the final playoff spot, the Diamondbacks are two games back and the Reds are 2.5 behind in the NL. The Cardinals are still alive as well at four games back.

Here’s a look at the Mets’ final slate of games:

OpponentRecordvs Padres (3)81-68vs Nationals (3)63-87at Cubs (3)85-64at Marlins (3)70-80

It’s been well documented that the Phillies are just a total disaster in Queens. And while the team will definitely welcome a chance to fight those demons in October, avoiding it might be a smart move if the have the chance to.

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