Phillies Clinch First NL East Title Since 2011 with Victory Over Chicago Cubs

The Philadelphia Phillies took the lead in the division in early May and never looked back.

Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Phillies have clinched their first National League East crown since 2011 with tonight's victory over the Chicago Cubs.

Philadelphia, now 93-64, took the division lead in early May and never dropped below five games ahead down the stretch, becoming the third team this season to officially win their division. The Milwaukee Brewers and Cleveland Guardians won the NL Central and AL Central, respectively, last week.

With both the Phillies and the Los Angeles Dodgers at 92 wins in the National League after today, both teams have a multi-game lead in the race for the two playoff byes given to the best records in each league. The San Diego Padres entered Monday's action with 90 wins and leading the NL Wild Card, while the Brewers are sitting at 89 games after their Sunday win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

But for as dominant as Philadelphia looked to open the season, ending the first half with MLB's best record at 62-34, the Phillies struggled a bit after the All-Star Break. The team didn't win their first series of the second half until their 6th attempt, finally taking down the Los Angeles Dodgers on the road after losing series to the Pittsburgh Pirates, Minnesota Twins, Cleveland Guardians, New York Yankees, and Seattle Mariners.

July was actually a losing month for Philadelphia, with a record of 10-14 while being outscored by 19 runs, 107-126. The team rebounded in August and September, however, picking up dual four-game win streaks in August and following that with a six-game win streak to open September.

Philly's rotation is a large reason for their dominance in 2024: The quartet of Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, Christopher Sánchez, and Ranger Suárez combined to win 51 games, with each pitcher winning more than ten games and losing just single-digit decisions. Wheeler, who posted a 16-6 record and 2.56 ERA, is the likely runner-up for the NL Cy Young Award to Atlanta Braves lefty Chris Sale.

The offense, meanwhile, held up their end of the bargain all season. Philly's 754 runs scored entering play on Sunday was the 4th highest total in MLB, while their .258 average was 4th-best. Leadoff hitter Kyle Schwarber set a MLB record for leadoff homers with 15 of his 36 shots coming to open games. Bryce Harper added in 29 homers from first base, while infielder Alec Bohm entered today's game tied for the league lead in doubles with 44.

The last time Philadelphia won the division, 2011, was the end of a five-season streak of divisional dominance. Since then, the Washington Nationals have won the NL East four times, the New York Mets have won it once, and the Atlanta Braves hold the remaining seven divisional titles, including each of the last six. Both the Braves and Nationals have won the World Series during this stretch, as well, with Washington winning the Fall Classic in 2019 and Atlanta taking the trophy home in 2021 after entering the postseason as Wild Cards. Both the Mets and Phillies have played in the World Series once during that span, with New York winning the division in 2015 but losing the World Series to the Kansas City Royals and the Phillies dropping the Fall Classic to the Houston Astros in 2022 as a Wild Card.