Tuesday night could have been a celebration for the Philadelphia Phillies and their fans. At first, it was shaping up to be a joyous affair at Citizens Bank Park but it ended in thoroughly disappointing fashion. What's worse is that the shocking 6-5 extra-inning loss cost the Phillies an opportunity to clinch the first-round bye.
The Phillies came into Tuesday with their magic number at two to clinch, at minimum, the No. 2 seed in the National League. And they were playing the Miami Marlins. It looked too good to be true, and it was.
Phillies fans fuming after brutal loss to the Marlins wasted chance to clinch first-round bye
After blowing a 3-0 lead, created on the back of another dominating Cristopher Sánchez start, the Phillies fell apart and wasted a timely Los Angeles Dodgers loss. At least the magic number to clinch the first-round bye is down to one heading into Wednesday, but that's not making Phillies fans feel any better after watching the horror show that unfolded late in the game, leading to the Marlins' seventh straight win.
After a rain delay and two extra frames, the Phillies finally fell to their NL East rivals. Fans in the social media mentions weren't happy.
Gutless loss. Questioning Duran right now…the blown games are starting to pile up. Missing a lot of players. They seem to just be going through the motions. Are we sure they’re going to get the two wins or dodgers losses they need? Soemthing is off with this team right now. I…
— Nelson (@BelgerNelson) September 24, 2025
The Phillies have now lost four of six since clinching the NL East last week at Dodger Stadium. The skid has some fans doubting the team as they barrel toward the postseason, with last year's NLDS disaster no doubt fresh in their minds.
Same ol’ script: Get hot in August then cool off in Late-September. 🙄
— Samurai Gringo (@SamuraiGringo70) September 24, 2025
Just getting us ready to watch this exact game play out in October. Appreciate the Phil’s preparing us for the inevitable collapse in the first postseason series!
— Seth (@sds72959) September 24, 2025
It's good to keep in mind, however, that the Phillies are actually 13-7 in September and 31-18 since Aug. 1.
The only good pieces of news to come out of the disheartening loss are that Sánchez, the Phillies' Game 1 starter, looks to be on point ahead of Red October and that catcher J.T. Realmuto avoided having his season ended after taking a foul ball off his right hand, per MLB.com's Paul Casella.
While it feels all doomy and gloomy right now, fans should keep in mind that the 92-65 Phillies are all but locked into a first-round bye. Technically, they still have a chance at the best record in the majors, trailing the Milwaukee Brewers by two and a half games.
Looking at it rationally, taking out the emotion of Tuesday's loss, the Phillies are still one of the best teams in the game. Teams don't just luck into one of the best records in baseball after the grind of 157 MLB games.
Let's just hope this recent skid gets the bad baseball out of their system before they take the field against whoever their opponent is in this year's NLDS.