#philadelphia-phillies

#philadelphia-phillies

The playoffs started this week, and you have questions. Who's the best team? Can I, a casual, start calling Aaron Judge a choker? Wait, they let a CANADIAN team take the one-seed in the AMERICAN League? Is that legal? And which team has the wettest guys on its roster, and why is it the Phillies? Those questions, and more, are the subject of the week's Distraction episode.

The Phillies did not send their best lineup out there on Wednesday night. They needed just one win or one Dodgers loss to wrap up a playoff bye, and there were five games left in the season. It was going to happen; they did not really seem to be in a rush. Similarly, the top seed in the NL is almost certainly out of reach.

LOS ANGELES -- Kyle Schwarber, Weston Wilson and Bryce Harper homered, and the Philadelphia Phillies clinched their second straight NL East title with a wild 6-5 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night. It was the earliest division clinch in franchise history, two days sooner than the 2011 club that clinched on Sept. 17. The Phillies got it done in Game 151, second-fastest in club history behind the 2011 Phillies who did it in Game 150.

The Brewers stay in the top spot after splitting a four-game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks and taking two of three from the Toronto Blue Jays. They are still 6.5 games ahead of the Chicago Cubs and cruising toward a playoff berth. Jackson Chourio returned from the injured list to excellent results, with six hits in two games. He will be key to Milwaukee breaking its playoff slump, with no series wins since 2018.

It's also going to be a big triumph for our show to pull off. This isn't easy to do. We have an incredible crew. They're putting this together. It takes really hard work. We have to be so efficient to get this done. We're just excited to get the opportunity to do more things that are kind of unseen in television.

It was back in 2021 that actor Kevin Costner famously emerged from the cornstalks at a specially constructed diamond at the "Field of Dreams" movie site and led the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees into the stadium for what turned out to be one of Major League Baseball's most memorable events. A year later, the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs visited Dyersville for another MLB matchup near the iconic field where the 1989 movie was filmed.

"I am fully aware that using prohibited substances is wrong and I would never intend to do so because I have always had great respect for the game, my organization, my teammates and the fans, all of whom I want to offer my sincere apologies," Alvarado posted.

Ryan McMahon had an impactful game as he contributed significantly on both offense and defense, helping the Yankees beat the Phillies 4-3 and avoid a sweep.

"I was playing in and he hit a little bit to my right, a little soft, and I knew [it was] going to be a bang-bang play at first and tried to get him at home," said Goldschmidt, a four-time Gold Glove winner. "Looking back, I should have just made the play and went to first base there."

Jeff Bittiger spent most of his career with the 1988 Chicago White Sox, posting a 4.23 ERA in 61 2/3 innings, and recorded a 3.68 ERA in 29 1/3 innings out of the bullpen.

"It was a really easy sell to baseball to host the game here in Philadelphia. It's the logical place." - John Middleton