Phillies playoffs: Schedule, tickets, opponent, and everything else you need to know

The Phillies are officially heading back to the MLB playoffs, though it feels more like avoiding a disaster than something to be celebrated.

Philly clinched the National League’s final wild-card spot by defeating the Tampa Bay Rays 7-3 at a dreary, storm-soaked Citizens Bank Park.

It took 162 games for the Phillies to punch their ticket to the postseason, a trip that seemed all-but-wrapped up just last week. Bryce Harper and company had a five-game lead with eight games to play, but at least the team avoided an epic collapse on par with the 1964 Phillies, who blew a 6½-game lead with 12 games to play.

It’s certainly been a wild season, catalogued by my colleague Scott Lauber:

That’s now just the backstory as the Phillies prepare for their fifth-straight postseason run.

The wild-card round kicks off Tuesday with four games beginning at 2 p.m. NBC is expected to announce the full schedule later in the day Sunday.

Here’s everything we know about the Phillies’ playoff schedule, wild-card opponent, and how to get playoff tickets if they manage to escape the wild-card round and end up back at Citizens Bank Park.

This will be updated as more information becomes available.

The Phillies ending up with the final wild-card means they’ll be traveling south to face the Braves at Truist Park in Atlanta

Philadelphia went 4-9 against Atlanta this season, and lost their most recent series a couple week ago.

The good news is the Phillies have had a fair amount of playoff success against the Braves in recent years. In both 2022 and 2023, the Phillies defeated the Braves in the National League divisional series, despite Atlanta having home-field advantage both years.

The wild-card round of the MLB playoffs is scheduled to begin on Tuesday.

This year it jumps from ESPN to NBC, and Phillies fans could hear a familiar voice — Tom McCarthy, who is slated to call one of the four series.

Here’s the wild-card TV schedule:

NBCSN is available on Xfinity (channel 1211 in Philly), YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, and Fubo, but it isn’t currently available on Verizon Fios. All the games will also stream on Peacock, NBC’s subscription streaming service.

While NBC Sports Philadelphia won’t broadcast any Phillies games, radio announcers Scott Franzke and Larry Andersen will continue to handle play-calling duties on 94.1 WIP.

A handful of seats for Games 1 and 2 of a possible National League divisional series at Citizens Bank Park were still available on the team’s website as of Sunday morning.

Phillies fans can register a chance to purchase tickets to the National League Championship Series, should they advance that far. Registration ends at midnight on Friday, Oct. 2, and a random drawing will occur the following Monday.

The team will notify you if you’ve been randomly selected for the opportunity to purchase playoff tickets on Monday, Oct. 12.

The MLB playoffs feature 12 teams (six from each league), with three division winners and three wild-card teams per league.

Here are the National League’s six playoff teams:

Here are the six playoff teams in the American League:

Following the wild-card round, Fox will broadcast the final two rounds of the National League playoffs, while the American League games will air on TBS. The World Series will once again air on Fox.

Here’s how the MLB playoff schedule breaks down this season:

This will be the first postseason to feature the automated ball‑strike (ABS) challenge system. That should benefit the Phillies, considering catcher J.T. Realmuto’s extreme success challenging balls and strikes.

As for other playoff rule changes, there will be no “ghost runners” during the postseason.

MLB’s designated runner rule puts a player on second base to begin each half-inning if a game is tied after nine innings. The rule was an attempt to preserve pitching staffs and avoid extra-long regular season games.

But during the playoffs, that rule is out the window. So if any postseason games enter extra innings, you won’t see anyone on second base.

Thankfully, MLB’s other big rule change — the pitch clock — remains in place during the playoffs. MLB games averaged 2 hours and 42 minutes through mid-season, nearly a half hour shorter than games without a clock.