Phillies Return to Postseason, Clinch Playoff Berth with Epic Walk-Off Win

Rookie Johan Rojas hit a walk-off single to defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-2 in the bottom of the 10th inning Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park, making Philadelphia Phillies' franchise history.

Jack Vita | Sep 26, 2023

Phillies Return to Postseason, Clinch Playoff Berth with Epic Walk-Off Win /

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Philadelphia Phillies

For the second straight year, the Philadelphia Phillies will be playing baseball in October.

With their walk-off 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates Tuesday night, the Phillies clinched a National League Wild Card berth at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

With one out in the bottom of the 10th inning, rookie Johan Rojas delivered the knockout blow, singling up the middle to score Cristian Pache for the playoff clinching moment.

It is the first time in Phillies franchise history that the club clinched a postseason berth with a walk-off victory.

Philadelphia entered Tuesday with a five-game lead for the top NL Wild Card spot. Rob Thomson's club will likely clinch the top Wild Card soon, making the Phillies the No. 4 seed in the National League Playoffs, which begin next week.

They would host a best-of-three Wild Card Series at Citizens Bank Park against the second NL Wild Card team. The Arizona Diamondbacks currently hold the second spot, with the Chicago Cubs tied with them, but sitting in third.

If Philadelphia wins the series, they would advance to play the National League's number one seed, which will likely be the Atlanta Braves, in a rematch of last year's NLDS, which the Phillies won in four games.

They would later go on to win their first NL Pennant since 2009.

Prior to 2022, Philadelphia had gone 11 years without a postseason appearance, the longest active postseason drought in the National League at the time.

With their 3-2 victory over the Pirates, the Fightin' Phils picked up their 88th win of 2023, eclipsing the 87-win season they had a year ago.

Next up on the list of accomplishments is the 90-win mark, something they haven't done since 2011 when the club last won a National League East division title with their 102-60 record.

The Phillies have five games remaining, playing two more home games against Pittsburgh before finishing the regular season on the road against the New York Mets.

Now, Philadelphia can relax knowing they're in the postseason and wait and see who they'll host for the NL Wild Card of MLB Playoffs.

Published Sep 26, 2023

JACK VITA

Jack Vita is a writer and contributor to Sports Illustrated's Inside the Phillies, and host of the Jack Vita Show, a popular sports podcast available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and wherever podcasts are found. Jack is a 2017 graduate of Valparaiso University, in northwest Indiana. Since completing his degree, Jack has created his own independent sports media outlet (JackVita.com) and podcast (the Jack Vita Show). He has featured prominent guests from the worlds of sports and entertainment including Brian Urlacher, Scot Pollard, Bob Nightengale, Dan O'Dowd, and Survivor icons Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick, Cirie Fields, Danni Boatwright and "the Dragon Slayer", Coach Benjamin Wade. While studying at Valparaiso, Jack was the school newspaper's beat writer for the Valpo Crusaders men's basketball team, which won three straight Horizon League championships from 2015-2017. Traveling to cover the team, Jack had a front row seat to one of the nation's best mid-major teams, headlined by future NBA Draft pick Alec Peters and coached by NCAA Tournament hero Bryce Drew. Jack hosted a weekly sports radio show and provided play-by-play and color commentary services for ESPN 3 and the university's student radio station, WVUR-FM, 95.1 The Source, covering Valparaiso men's soccer, women's basketball, softball and volleyball. Jack also covered these sports, in addition to men's and women's tennis, baseball and women's soccer for the school newspaper, The Torch. While he was in college, Jack interned for and co-hosted Jewell On Sports, a sports radio program on AM 1050 WLIP in Kenosha, Wisconsin. There, he interviewed various pro athletes such as Ahman Green, Javon Walker and Javier Arenas, in addition to talking sports with the late, great Brad Jewell. Jack also interned for 22nd Century Media, a now defunct newspaper corporation that provided news to the North Shore of Chicago. With 22nd Century Media, Jack wrote post-game recaps, feature stories about local athletes, reviews of local restaurants and compiled the newspaper's "Pet of the Week" and "Athlete of the Week" sections, while providing copy-editing services. Before attending Valparaiso, Jack enrolled at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where he studied for two years before transferring. He is a high school graduate of New Trier Township High School in Winnetka, Illinois. You can follow Jack on Twitter @JackVitaShow, subscribe to his podcast, the Jack Vita Show, wherever podcasts are found, and reach him via email at jack@jackvita.com.