Phillies' series with Brewers has major playoff implications

Things are looking up for the Philadelphia Phillies after a huge weekend at home. After a rough start on Friday night with an 11-3 loss, they vanquished the New York Mets in dramatic fashion on Saturday and Sunday with two comeback wins. The winning weekend all but assured them the NL East title. It's well within reach now. Their magic number is down to five.

As the Phillies head to Wisconsin for their lone trip to The Badger State this season, they have some crucial playoff implications on the line as they face off against the Milwaukee Brewers and former Phillie Rhys Hoskins for three games.

Phillies' series with Brewers has major playoff implications

The Brewers lead the NL Central by 10.0 games heading into Monday, and there's a very real chance that they could wrap up their division with the Phillies in town. But that's not of concern to the Phillies. The biggest thing the Phillies are playing for, aside from whittling their magic number down, is the seeding at the top of the National League standings.

The top two teams advance directly to the NLDS, while the third division winner has to play the Wild Card round against the third Wild Card team.

The Phillies currently have the upper hand, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers by 2.0 games (3.0 if you factor in the head-to-head tiebreaker) and the Brewers by 4.0 games. The Phillies would love to put some distance in between themselves and the Brew Crew, with a chance to widen the gap between the two division leaders.

While they'd love to clinch the NL East as soon as possible, there's something else at stake over the next three games: the playoff seeding tiebreaker. Luckily, the Phillies are in the driver's seat here. If you recall, they swept Milwaukee at Citizens Bank Park in June. With a single victory at American Family Field, they can secure the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Brewers, which gives the Phillies the higher seed on the off-chance the two teams end up tied.

What's the worst-case scenario?

According to the MLB tiebreaking rules, the second tiebreaker is intradivision records, i.e. Phillies vs. NL East, Brewers vs. NL Central.

If the Brewers handle the Phillies for all three games and even the season series, the next tiebreaker wouldn't currently go the Phillies' way. The Phillies have a 27-18 record in their division. The Brewers have a 30-19 record in the NL Central.

However, those records aren't final yet. The Brewers have three games left in their division, while the Phillies have seven left against NL East foes (four vs. the Mets and three vs. the Washington Nationals). Even if the Brewers sweep this series, the Phillies would still have a chance to win the seeding tiebreaker.

The best plan for the Phillies to secure the tiebreaker against the Brewers? Just win one game.

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