Phillies at last punch playoff ticket after tumultuous week

PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies celebrated on Sunday.

The sights and sounds of them popping champagne and beer bottles in the home clubhouse at Citizens Bank Park felt like an inevitability just a few days ago. They had a four-game lead over Arizona for the final NL Wild Card with five games to play, and no team since postseason play began in 1903 had blown a lead like that, according to Elias Sports Bureau. Nobody. Ever.

But the Phillies stumbled and nearly became the first. They lost four in a row last week, while Arizona won four in a row. Suddenly, the Phils needed to beat the Rays on the final day of the 162-game season to punch their ticket to the postseason and avoid being immortalized alongside the 1964 Phillies, who infamously blew a 6 1/2-game lead with 12 to play to lose the NL pennant to St. Louis.

The Phillies won, 7-3.

So, they partied because that’s what baseball teams do when they clinch a trip to the postseason. It has been a long, trying season for the Phillies. So, regardless of how fans felt about the past several weeks -- and nobody could argue that it was bad and a huge disappointment -- they always planned to enjoy the moment.