Phillies clinch NL East title for the first time since 2011 in emphatic fashion

For the first time since 2011, the Philadelphia Phillies are NL East champions.

That feels good to say.

With their 6-2 win over the Chicago Cubs on Monday at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies' magic number to secure the division dropped to zero, and the celebration is on in Philadelphia. After sneaking into the playoffs as the third Wild Card in 2022 and winning the first Wild Card spot last year, the Phillies will enter the 2024 MLB postseason as NL East champions.

Phillies head to MLB Playoffs as NL East champions for the first time since 2011

After failing to clinch on the weekend against the New York Mets, the Phillies turned to Aaron Nola, and he got the job done. Nola gave the Phillies exactly what they needed. The career Phillie pitched into the seventh before being lifted with the bases loaded and a 6-1 lead. He finished with two earned runs on seven hits and seven strikeouts, with Matt Strahm getting out of the inning.

J.T. Realmuto opened the scoring for the Phillies with a 421-foot two-run home run in the bottom of the second. Kyle Schwarber made it 3-0 with a solo bomb to lead off the third. Nick Castellanos tacked on an RBI single later in the inning to extend the early lead to 4-0.

They added a fifth run in the fifth when Bryce Harper scored from second, on possibly the weirdest stolen base play you’ll ever see. Schwarber made it 6-0 with a double play ground out in the sixth.

Jeff Hoffman pitched the eighth, with newcomer Carlos Estévez closing out the division-clinching win in the ninth as the decibels levels at The Bank rose with the final out as Castellanos gloved a fly ball to right field.

The win comes just days after securing their playoff spot, which the team celebrated with a mild champagne toast, as they looked ahead to the bigger celebration that's now happening tonight in South Philly.

The last time the Phillies won the NL East, Charlie Manuel was at the helm and guided a star-studded cast that included the likes of Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels and Roy Halladay to a 102-60 record. They finished 13.0 games ahead of the Atlanta Braves that season.

While this year's edition of the Phillies won't reach 100 wins (no team will this season), they've played as front runners through most of the campaign. Up to this point, they've spent 153 days in first place in the division and have manufactured 36 comeback wins and 10 walk-off victories.

After the way that the Phillies' season began, with a disheartening series loss to the Atlanta Braves on Opening Weekend, few at that time could have predicted this is where we would end up. Many expected the Braves to continue their reign as division champions, with the Phillies having an outside shot if things fell their way — which certainly happened this season.

The Phillies have ended Atlanta's six consecutive years of division supremacy after the Braves suffered catastrophic season-ending injuries to reigning NL MVP Ronald Acuna Jr. and presumed Cy Young favorite Spencer Strider. But that's not to take anything away from what the Phillies have accomplished this season.

Even if the Braves had remained healthy, the Phillies would have given them a fight to the end for the NL East crown. The Phillies aren't only the division champs this year. As it stands, they're in a battle with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the top seed in the National League and have held the title of the best team in baseball for much of the season.

After Monday's win, the Phillies trail the Dodgers by 0.5 games for the No. 1 seed in the NL (but hold the tiebreaker) and are 3.5 games ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers for a first-round bye right to the NLDS.

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