⚾ Phils punch their ticket | Sports Daily Newsletter
The Phillies are back in the playoffs
It took until the final game of the regular season, but the Phillies officially clinched the final NL wild-card spot on Sunday with a 7-3 win over the Rays.
As the nor’easter came howling through the Philadelphia region, Zack Wheeler threw six strong innings, and the big bats woke to lead the Phillies to their fifth straight postseason berth.
Now what? Game 1 of the best-of-three wild card series begins at 2 p.m. Tuesday in Atlanta. The Phillies essentially have a clean slate, though there’s still a pitching toll to pay for the late-season swoon.
But anything can happen in the playoffs. Think back only to 2022, when they didn’t get in until the third-to-last game of the season and went on a run to the World Series.
However, after four days being filled with boos, the Phillies merely postponed a disaster.
That’s a good thing — much better than the alternative, writes columnist David Murphy, but in the end, they need to win two more games in order to fully erase the disaster they’ve been over the last week-plus.
— Isabella DiAmore, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.
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The 2-0 Eagles still are in search of an identity, but the Bears are something of a mystery because of injuries at quarterback. Caleb Williams was officially ruled out, and the Bears are expected to start veteran Case Keenum, the third-string QB.
As for the Eagles, DeVonta Smith and Saquon Barkley were full participants in Saturday’s practice and will play on Monday. Jonathan Greenard was listed as questionable.
Jeff McLane tells us what we need to know — on both sides of the ball — about Monday night’s matchup.
What we’re...
🤔 Wondering: How the national media is predicting the Eagles vs. Bears game. Can the Birds improve to 3-0?
📖 Reading: Our writers are leaning in favor of a Birds win — and maybe even in blowout fashion.
👂Hearing: How a phone call with Tyrese Maxey helped LeBron James’ decision to choose the Sixers.
👏 Applauding: Cavan Sullivan making his USMNT debut and Mauricio Pochettino praising Sullivan’s game.
The puck drops on the Flyers season on Wednesday, and general manager Danny Brière offered some insight, starting with injuries: Goalie Dan Vladař should be good to go for the season opener. He was a full participant at practice on Sunday.
Brière also shared his thoughts on Matvei Michkov, who came to camp slimmer and spent the summer working on his skating, among other thoughts about the rising youngsters.
It was a bleak weekend for college football.
Penn State gave up a 10-point second-half lead to lose to Wisconsin, which moved the Nittany Lions out of the AP Top 25 rankings after being ranked No. 13.
Villanova and Penn both fell to Patriot League teams, as the Wildcats made costly mistakes and the Quakers went quiet in the first half.
And during a Friday matchup with Army at the Linc, Temple “needed to make one more play” to came out on top, but couldn’t get the job done. However, there could be some clarity at quarterback.
Downingtown’s Mary Kate Morrissey spent most of her life trying to excel at one thing: musical theater. She eventually ended up on Broadway and played Elphaba in Wicked.
Morrissey was always expected “to be the very best of the best” on stage, which led her wanting to learn something that she could just be bad at. And that’s how golf entered her life.
We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Lochlahn March, Scott Lauber, David Murphy, Jeff McLane, Jeff Neiburg, Ryan Novozinsky, Jackie Spiegel, Olivia Reiner, Jonathan Tannenwald, Lauren Jones, Lexie Linderman, Mike Livingston, and Hannah Chang.
By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.
Thanks for getting your morning started with me. Hope you were able to stay dry this weekend. I’ll be back in your inbox with tomorrow’s newsletter. — Bella
