Philadelphia Phillies clinch fifth consecutive National League East Crown – MLB News
The Philadelphia Phillies claimed their fifth consecutive National League East title after comprehensively defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 9-2 on Saturday, September 17 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Phillies had earlier secured their postseason berth through the Wild Card standings but are now certain to go through as leaders of NL East. They had abstained from celebrating earlier but Hunter Pence could not resist his joy and circled around Citizens
Bank Park to commemorate his first trip to the playoffs.
Having joined the Phillies on the midseason trade deadline from Houston Astros, Pence said, “These guys have welcomed me in and treated me like family. It just goes to show what type of guys we have here."
Manager Charlie Manuel led the players on the field after the game and there was no celebration apart from the usual handshakes and high-fives. The Phillies, however, celebrated their fifth division crown in as many years by raising a huge flag which read
2011.
Team president David Montgomery did not stay behind either and applauded the Phillies for their excellent team effort throughout the season.
Now that the Phillies have secured the division title, they can set their eyes on the more desired goal, the World Series. Manuel has reiterated that anything less than a World Series this season will not justify the hard work put in by the team and there
is no room for complacency, not before the silverware at least.
Ryan Howard agreed with his manager and appealed the fans for utmost support in the later stages as this was just the first step.
Before this streak of five consecutive postseason appearances, the Phillies had failed to go beyond the regular season since the 1993 World Series loss. However, they have emerged as a powerhouse and are now just four wins away from establishing a record
for most-wins by a team in a single season. Currently, the Phillies are 98-52 for the season and have a significant lead over other teams in the Majors.
Phillies have a strong bull-pen and will have to select one of Roy Oswalt and Vance Worley to complete the rotation for the postseason. Oswalt’s experience will likely earn him a call-up despite Worley’s superior win-loss record of 11-2 this season.
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