It’s the last weekend of the 2026 MLB season, and the Phillies have not clinched a playoff berth. They still can, but they can no longer do it later. It has to be now.
Despite losing five of their last seven games, the Phillies (87-73) still control their fate. Their magic number to make the postseason is 2. They lead the Diamondbacks by one game in the standings with two left to play, though Arizona holds the tiebreaker.
Two Phillies wins, two Diamondback losses to the Padres, or one of each this weekend would be enough to send Philadelphia to the playoffs for the fifth year in a row. Failing to do so would be a historically catastrophic result.
The Phillies and Rays last met for three games at Steinbrenner Field in May 2025. The Phillies swept the Rays in that series. The last time they faced each other in the final series of the year was the COVID-shortened 2020 season, when the Rays swept the Phillies in three games at Tropicana Field, eliminating Philadelphia from contention on the last day of the season.
Saturday’s game is a national broadcast on FOX. With Tom McCarthy on NFL on CBS duties, Scott Franzke will call the final game of the season on TV. He will be joined by Cole Hamels; it’s his ninth broadcast of the season. Ben Davis is also on the call.
Here’s when and where you can watch the final two games of the series on TV:
- Saturday, September 26, at 7:15 p.m. ET: FOX
- Sunday, September 27, at 3:05 p.m. ET: NBC Sports Philadelphia
