Phillies overcoming brutal travel to clinch vs. Dodgers proves their playoff mettle

Monday didn't go as smoothly as the Philadelphia Phillies would have liked, even though the result couldn't have worked out any better. The Phillies were forced to overcome adversity both on the field against the Los Angeles Dodgers and on the tarmac hours beforehand to clinch their second consecutive National League East title.

After the Phillies failed to clinch the division at home on Sunday, they boarded a plane to head to the West Coast. They should have landed hours earlier but faced mechanical issues with their plane, again, which delayed their arrival to L.A. until around 2 a.m. Pacific time, according to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki. They were forced to sit on the broken down plane for hours, as NBC Sports Philadelphia's Bob Cooney reports.

Not even travel problems can stop Phillies' march into playoffs as top contender

But the Phillies didn't let that brutal night of travel ruin their first chance to clinch the NL East against a dangerous postseason contender in the Dodgers. They came back from a 3-1 deficit. They fended off the Dodgers multiple times after losing 4-3 and 5-4 leads.

They eventually gutted out a see-saw 6-5 win in 10 innings that bled into Tuesday. And once the party started in the visitors' clubhouse, the travel challenges were the last thing on anyone's mind.

Adversity was a key theme in Phillies manager Rob Thomson's post-game, pre-celebration speech after the Phillies finished off the Dodgers thanks to J.T. Realmuto's 10th inning sacrifice fly and David Robertson's ice-cold save that left the bases loaded.

"We've had all kinds of adversity this year, with travel and rain delays and injuries and you guys have fought right through it," Thomson said under strobing lights with a champagne bottle raised over his head.

“Being down early like we were, we had one hit until the seventh inning, they’re just tough, they’re resilient,” Thomson told the media, per Cooney. “I’m proud of them, I really am. This is a really special group.”

Phillies prepared for playoff adversity after previous postseason failures

The ability to fight through adversity will serve them well when October baseball rolls around. Nothing gets easier in the MLB postseason. Everything is tougher, everything is magnified and there's little time to turn things around. The Phillies have experienced this over their last couple of playoff runs.

After seemingly having the NLCS in their grasp in 2023, they fell apart and watched as the Arizona Diamondbacks stormed back and won two decisive games at Citizens Bank Park to advance to the World Series. Last year, they got pummeled by the rival New York Mets in an embarrassing four-game series in the NLDS.

Now, they seem destined to do something great this year. Testing themselves against the NL West-leading Dodgers is a good measuring stick just weeks before the real games begin. First baseman Bryce Harper, who showed some emotion while rounding the bases after smashing a go-ahead solo home run in the eighth, knows his team can stand toe-to-toe with anyone in the league.

“We’re a really good team and I think we’re playing really good baseball right now,” Harper said, per Cooney. “We’ve got a bigger picture and things on our mind that we want to win in playing in October and into November. Every team we’ve had the last couple of years have been really good. Just hasn’t happened, hasn’t finished with a win. We have to understand that we’re a really good team and ebbs and flows of a season, obviously, but we’ve got a really good team.”

They still have 11 games remaining to secure one of the top two seeds in the NL and a first-round bye. Leapfrogging the Milwaukee Brewers for the No. 1 seed and home field advantage throughout the playoffs would be ideal, but you can be sure that when the postseason arrives, regardless of the situation, these Phillies will be ready for anything that anyone throws at them.

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