Phillies clinching scenarios for Sept. 23: Missed NL East clinch has a silver lining

When the Philadelphia Phillies set out on their seven-game road trip through Milwaukee and New York, it felt like they would have the NL East title wrapped up by the time they arrived home. Unfortunately, that's not the case. They went 2-5 on the trip and wasted two glorious opportunities on the weekend to clinch their first division title since 2011.

The good news is that they secured the tiebreaker against the Brewers with one win in The Badger State. And they clinched their playoff spot on Friday night in a 12-2 drubbing of the Mets. Other than that, the trip was an agonizing story of missed chances at every turn. Their magic number to secure one of the top two seeds in the NL is down to three for an all-important first-round bye.

Phillies clinching scenarios for Sept. 23: Missed NL East clinch has a silver lining

As the Phillies return to the friendly confines of Citizens Bank Park on Monday to host the Chicago Cubs, they have a third straight game to clinch the NL East title. They need one win, that's all, to secure the division, with their lead down to a surprising 5.0 games over the Mets.

It doesn't matter what the Mets and Atlanta Braves do in their head-to-head series as long as the Phils take care of business in front of the home fans. Although, technically, with their magic number for the division down to one, a Mets loss would also do the trick.

They should have finished the job on Sunday at Citi Field. They had ace Zack Wheeler on the mound in prime time on Sunday Night Baseball. Instead of showing the national audience what made them the top team for most of the season, the bats fell silent, managing just one run in the first inning and five hits total with another 12 strikeouts in the 2-1 loss.

It was the final wasted opportunity on the trip, as the offense failed to support yet another brilliant effort from Wheeler, who put another stamp on his candidacy for the NL Cy Young. He went seven innings, allowing two runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts. The back-breaker came on a Brandon Nimmo sixth-inning solo home run that barely scraped over the wall in right field on a night when the ball wasn't carrying well.

"I mean it's disappointing," Wheeler said about not clinching on Sunday, per Brooke Destra of NBC Sports Philadelphia. "But at the end of the day, we can go home and win this thing in front of our own fans and just start playing a little better once we get home. Just try to win these next couple series and go into the playoffs hot. Just turn the page, it's not the end of the world."

Wheeler's right. While it's a horrible feeling watching the Phillies lose three out of four to the division rival Mets, with the NL East title right there for the taking, they're not in dire straits yet.

They can put the sour memories of a wasted road trip behind them with just one win at The Bank. The home crowd will surely be riled up tonight, with a chance to see the team clinch and Red October right around the corner.

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