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Kincade & Salciunas: Weekdays 6am – 10am

Philadelphia Phillies Hold Key Schedule Advantage in NL Wild Card Race

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Author John Kincade

The road to a National League Wild Card berth is going to be a blood bath! The Philadelphia Phillies find themselves at the top with a favorable schedule.

The difference will be in how many times the teams in contention have to face each other. You can look at the opportunity to face direct competitors as an advantage. However, I look at that as a battleground that might just take you out of the race.

The Phillies, Cubs, Giants, Diamondbacks, Reds, and Marlins are fighting for three chairs. Additionally, the Milwaukee Brewers may not win the Central and could end in the Wild Card hunt. Here’s how it all shapes up;

Phillies Won’t Face Many Direct Competitors

The Phillies’ schedule includes only eight more games against their direct competitors for Wild Card supremacy. They have two remaining home games against the Giants, a three-game series in Milwaukee (September 1-3), and three games in Philadelphia against the Marlins (September 8-10).

The Cubs Have the Most Brutal Path 

The Cubs have to prove they belong with 23 games in direct competition with the field. They have this gauntlet to run. Chicago’s chances to win the NL Central will come down to their two series against the Brewers.

  • 3 games vs. Brewers
  • 4 games @ Reds
  • 3 games vs. Giants
  • 4 games vs. D-Backs
  • 3 games @ D-Backs
  • 3 games @ Brewers

The Giants Are Leaking Oil

San Francisco is going to have to fight to stay in playoff position. The schedule-makers did them no favors. They also have an additional seven games against the arch-rival Los Angeles Dodgers, who are firmly locked into the NL West lead.

I’ll call it now. Gabe Kapler will watch the MLB Postseason from his stair master.

  • 2 games @ Phillies
  • 3 games vs. Reds
  • 3 games @ Cubs
  • 2 games @ D-Backs

The Diamondbacks Have Risen Like the Phoenix in Phoenix

Arizona fell out of the Wild Card race a month ago, but a recent hot streak has them banging on the door. They have 13 games left against NL Wild Card contenders, and the majority will be in Arizona. Those seven games in September against the Cubs could be a tasty playoff preview.

  • 4 games vs. Reds
  • 4 games @ Cubs
  • 3 games vs. Cubs
  • 2 games vs. Giants

The Reds Have a Solid Path Ahead

After September 3, the Reds won’t play a team in the mix for the postseason. They could also bypass teams beating up on each other.

  • 4 games @ D-Backs
  • 3 games @ Giants
  • 3 games vs. Cubs

Marlins Swept Under the Tide

Miami is still hanging around. Can they pull off an Arizona-type turnaround to get back in one of the three NL Wild Card spots?

  • 3 games @ Phillies
  • 4 games @ Brewers
  • 3 games vs. Brewers

 

Watch The John Kincade Show live on the 97.5 The Fanatic YouTube page on weekday mornings from 6am-10am.

History of Philadelphia Phillies No-Hitters

  • Michael Lorenzen: August 9, 2023 Vs. Washington Nationals

    It was an emotional night for Lorenzen in only his second start with the Phillies and his first at Citizens Bank Park. The embattled former reliever had scratched and clawed to earn a position as an MLB starting pitcher, and he got his reward. He had family in attendance for an incredibly well-timed achievement.

    The crowd in South Philadelphia experienced a night filled with incredible anomalies. 28-year-old Weston Wilson became the first Phillies hitter in 25 years to hit a home run in his first major league at-bat, and his family (also in attendance) poured with emotion. Nick Castellanos also hit his 199th and 200th career home runs.

    Lorenzen threw a career-high 124 pitches in the no-hitter. Phillies manager Rob Thomson considered pulling his starter, but a six-man rotation and a light upcoming schedule gave him the luxury of pushing Lorenzen to the limit. His four walks made the manager sweat, but he shut down the Nationals flawlessly.

    “That was the coolest moment of my baseball career,” Lorenzen said in a moment that made fans remember what the game of baseball is all about.

     

     

  • Cole Hamels: July 25, 2015 vs. Chicago Cubs

    Professional athletes don’t usually know what game will be their last in a particular uniform, but Hamels left Philadelphia fans with a lasting memory that is as good as it gets with a dominant performance at Wrigley Field.

    Phillies fans didn’t always glorify Hamels as much as Roy Halladay or Cliff Lee, but they came to appreciate his longevity by 2015 when it came time to move on from their long-time ace ahead of the MLB Trade Deadline.

    As Odubel Herrera stumbled on the warning track chasing Kris Bryant’s fly ball before recording the 27th and final out, the hearts of Phillies fans everywhere sank. Seconds later, they celebrated the perfect sendoff for the 2008 World Series MVP.

     

  • Combined No-Hitter: September 1, 2014 vs. Atlanta Braves

    Combined no-hitters sometimes feel like they cheapen the accomplishment. The significance of the individual, single-game achievement creates the beauty of this baseball novelty.

    Celebrate Cole Hamels for his first REAL no-hitter in 2015 instead of remembering a game when Jonathan Papelbon recorded the final out.

  • Roy Halladay: October 6, 2010 vs. Cincinnati Reds

    Roy Halladay’s first playoff start was bound to create some adrenaline for one of the most determined athletes in Philadelphia sports history. However, Phillies fans might not have expected only the second no-hitter in MLB postseason history.

    Halladay dominated the Reds. He walked Jay Bruce in the 5th inning because of a borderline pitch, and he mowed down the other 27 hitters he faced. You wouldn’t have known from his outrageously competitive demeanor that he was pitching one of the best games of his life.

    He later called his time in Philadelphia and his opportunity to pitch in the postseason the “icing on the cake” for his MLB career after 12 seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays.

     

  • Roy Halladay: May 29, 2010 vs. Florida Marlins

    Philadelphia sports fans were consumed by Game 1 of the 2010 Stanley Cup Final between the Flyers and the Chicago Blackhawks. They didn’t realize that this particular one of 162 Phillies games in 2010 would be the most memorable.

    Josh Johnson controlled the Phillies offense with just one unearned run in seven innings. However, Roy Halladay outdueled him with the second perfect game in Phillies history. The signature performance less than two months into his Phillies career. It helped him earn the 2010 NL Cy Young Award and even a sixth-place finish for the NL MVP.

    Fans still remember the exhilarating call of Tom McCarthy.

    “The 1-2 pitch. Hit toward third. Castro has it, spins, fires. A perfect game. Roy Halladay has thrown the second perfect game in Philadelphia Phillies history.” -Tom McCarthy

     

  • Kevin Millwood: April 27, 2003 vs. San Francisco Giants

    Millwood entered his sixth career start with the Phillies on the Phantic’s birthday at Veterans Stadium. The promotion drew plenty of children in a rising generation of Phillies fans, and they saw a lasting memory that sucked them in for life.

    The former Atlanta Braves starter struck out 10 Giants hitters, including Barry Bonds in the 7th inning. Millwood’s tenure soured by the end of his second and final season in Philadelphia, but his career in red pinstripes certainly wasn’t just a footnote for people who remember Harry Kalas delivering the call as Ricky Ledee squeezed the ball in his glove for the final out.

     

  • Tommy Greene: May 23, 1991 vs. Expos

    Michael Lorenzen blanked the Nationals in 2023, and Greene took care of the Expos before their move to the nation’s capital.

    Greene started only his second game of the season after a stint in the bullpen, but his dominant performance got his season going. He pitched a three-hit shutout five days later, and he finished the 1991 season with an ERA lower than in his famed 1993 season.

     

  • Terry Mulholland: August 15, 1990 vs. San Francisco Giants

    The Phillies fell on hard times after the 1983 World Series. As Mike Schmidt approached the twilight of his career, the team faded from playoff contention. The diehards who hung through the hard times got one reward from Terry Mulholland in 1990.

    The journeyman played for 11 teams in 20 MLB seasons in stints as a starter and a reliever. For one day, he was all the Phillies needed. He struck out 10 Giants hitters in the seventh no-hitter in franchise history.

     

  • Rick Wise: June 23, 1971 vs. Cincinnati Reds

    A no-hitter is an outstanding accomplishment, but National League pitchers used to have even more responsibility. Rick Wise had possibly the best all-around performance in Phillies history with two home runs and three RBI.

    It’s tough to single-handedly defeat a baseball team, but Wise came about as close as you can.

     

  • Jim Bunning: June 21, 1964 vs. New York Mets

    As impressive as a no-hitter is, the idea of a perfect game blows it out of the water.

    Bunning pitched the first perfect game in franchise history and the first in the National League since 1880. The American League hadn’t had one in 42 years. Don Larsen’s World Series perfect game had, however, set the stage in 1956.

    The nine-time All-Star and future Hall of Famer mowed down 27 Mets at Shea Stadium, drawing a standing ovation seen in the black and white video below but not in modern times in the Mets-Phillies rivalry.

    Bunning is now on the Phillies Wall of Fame at Citizens Bank Park. He also started the first game at Veterans Stadium in 1971 during his second stint with the Phillies.

     

  • John Lush: May 1, 1906 vs. Brooklyn Superbas

    Did you know the Los Angeles Dodgers used to be named the Superbas?

    John Lush no-hit them in 1906 at the ripe age of 20.

  • Chick Fraser: September 18, 1903 vs. Chicago Cubs

    The 1903 Phillies finished 49-86, but they had one game to remember. Chick Fraser wound down a forgettable season with a 10-strikeout no-hitter in September in a game that took only one hour and 40 minutes.

  • Red Donahue: July 8, 1898 vs. Boston Beaneaters

    The Boston Beaneaters went down a winding road before ultimately becoming the Atlanta Braves. It was a great name, but it didn’t help them hit Red Donahue in 1898.

  • Charlie Ferguson: August 18, 1889 vs. Providence Grays

    Ferguson pitched the first no-hitter in franchise history before the Phillies name ever came into existence. The Philadelphia Quakers name lasted from the inception in 1883 until 1889. They had some tough seasons, but they had at least one highlight to remember.

A full blooded Delco native from a sports crazed family, John has been obsessed with Philly sports from his days at St. Annie’s drawing team logos on his book covers! Told many times by teachers along the way “if you knew your studies as well as you know your sports” he turned that perceived weakness into a career. John has been broadcasting at the local and national levels since 1992. As a content creator for 97.5 The Fanatic he writes about Eagles, Sixers, Phillies and Flyers. You can follow @johnkincade or reach him at John.Kincade@bbgi.com

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