<\/p>\n
For most of the season, the National League East race looked like it would come down to the wire. However, everything changed in the last 10 days.<\/p>\n
The surging Philadelphia Phillies can clinch the division for a second straight year Sunday afternoon in the finale of their weekend series with the visiting Kansas City Royals.<\/p>\n
Philadelphia (89-60) has won nine of its last 10 games, while the New York Mets (76-73) have dropped eight in a row and nine of their last 10. The Phillies can clinch the NL East with a win or a New York loss on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The Phillies also sit two games behind the Milwaukee Brewers (91-58) for the top seed in the NL.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to wrap things up, get to where we want to be,\u201d said Kyle Schwarber, who hit his 51st home run in Saturday\u2019s 8-6 triumph over the Royals. \u201cObviously, we want to have one of the byes, we want to get back to full strength, but there\u2019s still a lot of baseball to be played and we\u2019ve got to take care of business.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brandon Marsh drove in three runs for Philadelphia on Saturday, while trade-deadline acquisition Harrison Bader contributed three hits to notch his sixth straight multi-hit game.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been a really big addition for us,\u201d Schwarber said of Bader.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Kansas City (74-75) has lost six of its last seven games. The Royals\u2019 standout on Saturday was Salvador Perez, who homered twice to give him 300 for his career. He also drove in three runs to bring his MLB total to an even 1,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust to know how hard he\u2019s worked, how special he is to this team, to the organization, to the city,\u201d Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. \u201cI\u2019m really happy for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Philadelphia starter Aaron Nola (4-8, 6.24 ERA) will try to silence Perez and the Kansas City lineup.<\/p>\n
After his first nine starts \u2014 with not many quality outings mixed in \u2014 Nola spent more than three months on the injured list due to rib and ankle injuries. In his first four starts since returning from the IL, the right-hander picked up a pair of wins but generally did not look crisp.<\/p>\n
However, in Monday\u2019s start against the Mets, Nola allowed just three hits over six shutout innings with seven strikeouts \u2014 his most since coming back from the injuries.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe just threw so well tonight,\u201d Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson said. \u201c\u2026 I thought he was really good.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI hadn\u2019t had a game like this in quite some time,\u201d added Nola, who is 0-2 with an 8.71 ERA in 10 1\/3 innings over two career starts against Kansas City.<\/p>\n
The Royals will counter with rookie Noah Cameron (7-7, 3.00), who will be facing Philadelphia for the first time in his career.<\/p>\n
The 26-year-old left-hander is coming off one of his best starts of the season. He held the Cleveland Guardians to two runs and six hits over seven innings last Tuesday, striking out eight without a walk.<\/p>\n
However, Kansas City lost that game 2-0, leaving Cameron without a win in nearly a month.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt hurts,\u201d Cameron said. \u201cDefinitely, those losses hurt worse than blowouts. It\u2019s part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013Field Level Media<\/p>\n