The Phillies are home this week for six games: four with the Braves, a rare off-day Friday, then two with the Red Sox.
After that comes their final off-day on Sept. 16 and then an 11-game road trip. The first three are in Atlanta. The next three are in Cleveland. The last five are in D.C., with a doubleheader coming on the second of the four days to make up an earlier rainout between the Phillies and Nationals.
That trip was made tougher when ESPN picked Phillies-Indians for Sunday Night Baseball in the series finale Sept. 22. What was previously a 1:10 p.m. start time is now 6:37 p.m.
It's September, with expanded rosters, which means longer games, especially for teams vying for the postseason like these two. Look no further than Sunday's 4-hour, 29-minute slog between the Phillies and Mets - the longest nine-inning game in Mets history and second-longest in Phillies history.
The later start time in Cleveland means the Phillies won't land in D.C. until around 1:30 in the morning, maybe later. Guys won't be in their hotel rooms until closer to 2 or 2:30. And then they get five games in four days, which means facing all three of Max Scherzer, Patrick Corbin and Stephen Strasburg.
All told, the Phillies will play six games in the span of 100 hours from Sept. 22-26. The path was already difficult, now even more so.
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