Nick Castellanos, Trea Turner, and Kody Clemens all hit home runs as the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Chicago Cubs 9-6 on Wednesday night, securing a first-round bye in the playoffs.
Castellanos had three hits and scored three times. Bryson Stott also had three hits, while Brandon Marsh drove in three runs for the Phillies, who won their first NL East title in 13 years on Monday night.
With Milwaukee losing 2-1 to Pittsburgh, Philadelphia clinched the bye and home-field advantage in the NLDS. The Phillies won the tiebreaker against the Brewers by taking the season series from the NL Central champions.
Philadelphia will host Game 1 of the NLDS on October 5.
“We just have to take it one step at a time and take care of business,” Marsh said. “There’s nothing like it. This is why we show up. This is the stuff we dream about.”
Nico Hoerner hit two home runs for Chicago, and Isaac Paredes had four singles. The Cubs lost two of three games in the series and ended the season with a 39-42 record on the road.
Philadelphia finished its home games with a record of 54-27, although one of those games was a loss to the Mets in London. A crowd of 42,438 attended the game, marking the 47th sellout of the season and bringing the total home attendance at Citizens Bank Park to 3,308,638 this year.
The Phillies will finish the regular season with three games in Washington, starting on Friday. They can secure home-field advantage through the NL Championship Series by tying or finishing ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Manager Rob Thomson mentioned that he plans to rest some regular players in the last three games.
“I think it’s huge to get these guys some rest,” he said.
Turner gave Philadelphia the lead with a one-out solo home run in the first inning. Stott then hit a two-run double against Javier Assad, giving the Phillies an early 3-0 advantage.
