The Philadelphia Phillies enter Saturday in must-win territory following a recent string of losses.
September hasn't been kind to the Philadelphia Phillies, and now the team is fighting for their playoff lives with two games remaining in the regular season.
Philadelphia's recent losing streak, combined with a strong finish from the Arizona Diamondbacks now has the Phillies in danger of missing the playoffs entirely. Entering Saturday, the Phillies are just one game ahead of Arizona for the final wild-card spot in the National League.
And to make matters worse for Philadelphia, the Diamondbacks own the tiebreaker. This means that the Phillies can't finish with the same record as Arizona; otherwise, they will be on the outside looking in for the postseason.
Philadelphia has gone 4-6 over its last 10 games overall, and this group hasn't looked the same for weeks. Even with strong pitching performances from the starting rotation, the offense has sputtered over the final week of the season.
In the opening game against the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday, Philadelphia got seven strong innings from starter Cristopher Sanchez. The left-hander only allowed two runs over seven innings, striking out 10 batters.
But the Phillies offense didn't do anything, resulting in a 2-0 loss for Philadelphia. And as the team enters the second game of the series, it may be the biggest game of the season for this team.
If the Phillies were to lose this game to Tampa Bay, mixed with an Arizona win over the San Diego Padres, Philadelphia would drop out of the wild-card standings heading into the last day of the season.
The pressure is massively on this group to rally together against the Rays, hoping for better results. But the Rays are the best team in the American League, so this won't be an easy task for Philadelphia.
Phillies Drop Lineup vs Rays
Ahead of the second game against Tampa Bay, the Phillies have revealed the lineup to help them get a win. Here is how the order was set by manager Don Mattingly:
Leading off will be shortstop Trea Turner, with him moving up a spot. After him will be slugger Kyle Schwarber, taking on the designated hitter role.
Bryce Harper will bat third, playing at first base. Alec Bohm will play at third base today, hitting fourth in the lineup.
Bryson Stott will hit fifth, playing at second base. Bryan De La Cruz will play in right field, hitting sixth for the Phillies.
Brandon Marsh will hit seventh, playing in left field. Behind the plate will be catcher J.T. Realmuto, hitting eighth.
And finally, Justin Crawford will bat ninth, playing in center field.
