If Monday night’s win over the Dodgers that clinched the Phillies the NL East didn’t also effectively seal them a first-round bye in the National League postseason bracket, Tuesday’s did. By the time the Phillies finished off a relatively lifeless effort on Wednesday to come up short of a sweep, the implications as far as the Dodgers are concerned were basically none.
So the focus shifts beyond the Wild Card Series entirely. The Phillies reflected as much by reshuffling their rotation to give Cristopher Sánchez the ball on Tuesday against the Marlins, therefore again on Sunday in Game 162, therefore in Game 1 of the NLDS the following Saturday on five days’ rest.