Students at Aura Elementary School in Elk Township are learning remotely until further notice as the district responds to a flea infestation in the building.
Aura, which teaches kindergarten through sixth grade, closedthe school for two days starting Sept. 17 to treat the infestation, first through an organic treatment and then with a chemical treatment, said Fran Ciociola, superintendent of Delsea Regional School District in Gloucester County. Staff first noticed the fleas in the library.
Students then learned off-site temporarily at Hardingville Bible Church and Total Turf in Pitman, Ciociola said, but then the county required Aura to move to remote learning instead.
There is no timeline yet for when students will return to in-person class, and it is unclear whether the fleas have spread.
“The treatment has been ongoing and we hope to be back in the building soon,” Ciociola said in an email.
James Rambo, Elk Township’s mayor, posted Monday on Facebook offering “any township support that could help get our students back in the classroom sooner.”
“Our shared priority is getting our children back into a safe learning environment as quickly as possible,” Rambo wrote.
The Eagles left the Windy City with a 27-7 loss to the Chicago Bears, who were led by third-string quarterback Case Keenum. Keenum’s 247 yards and three touchdowns — and several Eagles penalties and turnovers — helped send the Birds to their first loss of the season.
Now, the 2-1 Birds turn their attention toward their Week 4 opponents, the Los Angeles Rams, as they return home to Lincoln Financial Field.
From the Birds’ chances this weekend to updates on Super Bowl likelihood, here are some of the latest odds at two of the biggest sportsbooks:
Eagles-Rams odds
The Eagles’ first loss of the season came after barely escaping Weeks 1 and 2 with wins over the Washington Commanders and Tennessee Titans.
The Rams (1-2) are coming off a 30-26 loss to the Denver Broncos after blowing a 16-0 halftime lead
The last time these teams met was in September 2025, when the Eagles defeated the Rams, 33-26, at Lincoln Financial Field. The game came down to the last second and Jordan Davis returning a blocked field goal for a touchdown.
As they prepare to compete Sunday after a short week, the Eagles are entering as underdogs.
At DraftKings, the Eagles have the fifth-best odds to win the NFC. They currently trail the San Francisco 49ers, Rams, Minnesota Vikings, and Seattle Seahawks.
At both sportsbooks, the Eagles still have the seventh-best odds to win the Super Bowl. The Rams and the Buffalo Bills top the list as early Super Bowl favorites.
WASHINGTON — U.S.-Canada relations, already tense, are likely to deteriorate further after the United States went ahead early Tuesday with a decision to ban nearly $1 billion worth of Canadian imports, including alcoholic beverages, dairy products, and motorcycles.
The ban amounts to barely a ripple in $880 billion worth of annual two-way trade between the two northern neighbors. But it marks another ratcheting up of President Donald Trump’s second-term trade war with America’s longtime ally and trading partner.
The import ban “certainly won’t do anything to help the trade tensions between the United States and Canada,” said trade attorney Patrick Childress, a partner at Holland & Knight and a former U.S. trade official.
The latest sparring began over the summer when Trump reached back to a Great Depression law to impose 50% tariffs on about $20 billion worth of Canadian imports, charging that Canada discriminates against U.S. dairy, auto, and alcoholic beverage producers. Canada promptly counterpunched with tariffs of 15%, 25%, or 50%, matching U.S. imports dollar for dollar.
To punish Canada for retaliating against his tariffs, Trump decided to ban a list of Canadian products, effective 12:01 a.m. Eastern time Tuesday.
Economic impact likely to be modest
The economic impact is likely to be minimal. Childress noted that the products on the banned list were already facing Trump’s tariffs. ”For a lot of these goods, the 50% was already acting as a de facto ban by making importation from Canada into the United States uneconomical,″ he said.
Jacob Jensen, director of trade policy at the center-right American Action Forum think tank, calculates that the ban would cover $967 million worth of Canadian imports, based on 2025 numbers. Of that, 87% would be alcoholic beverages that the U.S. targeted because of some Canadian provinces responding to Trump’s provocations by banning U.S. booze from store shelves.
Also banned are some dairy products — including the milk byproduct whey. The two countries have long clashed over Canada’s attempts to protect its dairy industry from foreign competition by imposing hefty tariffs once dairy imports have exceeded a quota.
The ban also covers motorcycles. Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP) in Quebec confirmed that its three-wheel Can-Am Spyder and Canyon motorcycles “will be excluded from importation into the U.S.’’ But BRP said the impact likely won’t be felt until next year because it has completed most production and shipments for the current season.
Independent spirit distillers and beer brewers are expected to bear the brunt of the ban more than some well-known Canadian brands that may have workarounds. For example, Crown Royal can ship its whisky in bulk for processing, bypassing the ban. And beer maker Labatt Brewing Co. has some bottling operations in the U.S., exempting some of its beer from the ban.
Diageo, which owns Crown Royal, and Anheuser-Busch InBev, which owns Labatt, did not respond to requests for comments.
A distillery just across the Detroit River in Canada has stopped shipping whiskey to Michigan due to the ongoing tariff war and Trump’s ban on Canadian alcohol. “It’s really unfortunate,” said Danielle Moldovan, director of marketing at the Wolfhead Distillery in Amherstburg, Ontario. “We are a border town. The Americans are great friends of ours, and they visit our distillery on a daily basis.”
Moldovan is worried about the long-term impact on Wolfhead’s business. Buyers in Georgia were interested in importing the distillery’s Coffee Whisky. And its Michigan importer was considering its Vanilla Almond Biscotti and Banana Caramel Vodka. But “those products are going to be put on hold right now until we have further clarification about what’s going to happen, how long this ban’s going to last,” Moldovan said.
“This marks yet another escalation in the trade war that may result in further retaliation on the Canadian side,” Jensen said. He expects Canadian exporters and U.S. importers “impacted by these bans will be highly motivated” to demand that trade officials on both sides find some way to reach a “resolution of this whole ordeal.’’
A threat to U.S. goal of a North American trade pact
The impasse imperils efforts to renew the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, a North American trade pact Trump pressured America’s neighbors into accepting in his first term and which he once declared “the most modern, up-to-date, and balanced trade agreement in the history of our country.”
The deal allowed most goods to cross North American borders duty free. But since returning to the White House last year, Trump has announced a series of tariffs that have clouded the future of trade in the region.
Longtime ally Canada moves rapidly to find new trading partners
Trump has directed most of his ire at Canada. He is openly seeking to pull Canadian manufacturing south. And he has inflamed public opinion in Canada by repeatedly suggesting that the country become America’s 51st state.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney came to power last year on a promise to stand up to Trump. In addition to retaliating against Trump’s tariffs — China is the only other country to do so, with very different results — Carney has sought to reduce Canada’s reliance on the United States, which last year accounted for more than 70% of Canadian exports.
“There is now a price to be paid for access to the United States market,” Carney said earlier this month. The Canadian prime minister wants to double Canada’s non-U.S. trade over the next decade.
And he said last week that trade negotiations with India are making “good progress” and that the two countries are aiming to conclude talks by the G20 summit in mid-December.
“We take note of the coming into force of the Administration’s previously announced trade measures,” said Gabriel Brunet, a spokesperson for Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc. ”Our first priority remains on protecting and supporting Canadian workers, farmers, families, and businesses from these unjustified actions. Our core focus is on what we can control: building strength at home, diversifying our partnerships abroad, and building Canada strong for all Canadians.”
Trump expressed confidence that the Canadians would cave in.
“They’re gonna come in and they’re gonna say, ‘Sir, we are sorry,’” he told reporters Monday. “They’ve treated the United States very, very badly. I think a deal will be made but it’s gonna be fair.”
Trade attorney Childress said the standoff is likely to continue for months, not weeks. The import bans and the tariffs so far “probably won’t cause enough economic upheaval to force either party back to the negotiating table,’’ he said.
Mae Anderson, Rob Gillies, and Mike Householder contributed to this article.
Travis Konecny grew up in the Flyers organization, watching leaders like Claude Giroux, Wayne Simmonds, and Scott Laughton give back to the local community.
Now all those guys are gone, and Konecny, 29, is the elder statesman on a team littered with young players. He has signed to a long-term extension through the 2032-33 season and has three kids.
“I’ve always had interest in doing something,” Konecny said. “I’ve just never thought it was the right time.”
Over the last year, that’s changed. In partnership with Flyers Charities, Konecny has been working toward the launch of his new charitable initiative, TK-O Cancer, which will support organizations treating and aiding families and patients with pediatric cancer.
“I’ll give a lot of credit to the Flyers team for that one,” Konecny said of the name. “They gave me a few ideas, and that was one of them, and it was kind of perfect. Something that I probably would never come up with.”
Since having his own kids, Konecny has known he wanted to get involved with helping children. Over the years, the Flyers have collaborated with various hospitals and organizations as part of their Hockey Fights Cancer initiatives, including the annual home renovation project with Michael’s Way.
His new initiative includes a grant supporting pediatric cancer programming at a local 501(c)(3) organization in the greater Philadelphia area, and events to come during Hockey Fights Cancer month in November.
Several of the Flyers players worked with local kids who are cancer survivors to design custom equipment for Hockey Fights Cancer night last season.The Philadelphia Flyers
Konecny said he’s had “some great experiences” working on the Flyers’ existing initiatives since he’s been in the organization, but a visit last year helped solidify for him that he wanted to center his own efforts on pediatric cancer patients.
“We were drawing some design on skates that we were wearing, and it was a pretty awesome experience,” Konecny said. “Her name is Frankie, and she’s quite a light every time you see her. She was holding court in the room. She’s a pretty awesome girl.”
As part of the initiative, Konecny will launch a line of merchandise that he helped design to raise money for the grant and other future initiatives.
That includes a few T-shirts available now at the team store and online, plus a hat Konecny, who is rarely seen without one, has been designing for months.
“When I come across a hat that I like outside of hockey, in day-to-day life, I threw a couple of those hats at them, so then they could try to make something similar to that,” Konecny said. “I wanted to make it something that was cool that people would want to wear, and that guys in the locker room would wear.”
The island of St. Thomas and the city of Cornelia, Ga., seem different in almost every conceivable way. One is surrounded by the turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea; the other, tucked into the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
One has yearlong heat and humidity; the other has four seasons. But the two communities, roughly 1,600 miles apart, share an unlikely similarity. Both played a role in Alex McFarlane’s journey to the Phillies.
McFarlane was born and raised on the eastern side of St. Thomas. It was hardly a baseball hotbed; only 16 of the sport’s 23,804 big leaguers have come from the Virgin Islands. Nevertheless, word of his athleticism — and arm — spread quickly.
There were early signs. As a boy, the future Phillies reliever would spend his days with a milk carton full of tennis balls, fooling around with different grips, and throwing them against the side of his garage.
His mother, Tami Noel, had to get the siding replaced because of the dents imprinted by her hard-throwing son. “He beat the crap out of it,” said McFarlane’s former math teacher, Liz Elger.
In the seventh grade, during a dodge ball game, McFarlane accidentally beaned a classmate in the head. Of course, he was not the only culprit. Plenty of other middle schoolers were slinging red projectiles across the gym.
Phillies rookie reliever Alex McFarlane had a 2.84 ERA in 19 games during the regular season.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
But none were slinging with the force McFarlane was. And the kid who got hit looked “dazed,” according to Elger’s husband, Joey, who taught the future big leaguer P.E. and history.
“It wasn’t like a concussion,” he said, “but we had to go to softer balls.”
When he was 15, one of McFarlane’s coaches in St. Thomas connected him with Team Elite, a travel team out of Georgia. Up until that point, he’d only played recreational baseball; high school baseball didn’t exist at his academy.
Team Elite provided plenty of exposure (he committed to the University of Miami his junior year) but also had its limitations. McFarlane couldn’t experience the ups and downs of a full season. Their program was more about development and garnering scouts’ attention than winning a championship.
High school baseball was where most players learned this side of the game. But it was never an option for McFarlane, until tragedy struck his hometown. In September of 2017, two Category 5 storms, Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria, hit the Caribbean.
St. Thomas was destroyed. It took over 100 days to fully restore power. The island was crowded with trucks, helicopters and military equipment. The already-limited athletic facilities were being used as staging grounds for FEMA.
Liz Elger moved back to her hometown of Cornelia, Ga., with her young daughters, while her husband helped with relief efforts. McFarlane stayed with his family, making sure they were settled.
Video: Phillies celebrate clinching a fifth-consecutive postseason berth
In 2018, the pitcher decided to take a risk. He was about to embark on his senior year, but would have little access to baseball or physical training on the island, due to disaster recovery efforts.
So, his mom reached out to the Elgers and asked if her son could stay with them. McFarlane moved to northeast Georgia that fall, living with Atlanta Braves fans, while playing for Habersham Central High School.
And this week, McFarlane, a 25-year-old rookie who has emerged as a trusted reliever for the Phillies, will face their favorite team in the National League wild-card series, 80 miles south of the mountain town he once called home.
“A huge credit to them for taking me in, and helping me out,” McFarlane said. “It’s something that I’m forever grateful for.”
Alex McFarlane and the Elger family in the summer of 2025.Liz Elger
A ballplayer who could do it all
The Elgers have worked as international educators for the past 16 years. They’ve taught everywhere from Saipan to Lithuania to Tanzania, where they’re based now.
But before they traversed the globe, Liz and Joey were two Habersham students who loved the Braves. This was especially true for Joey, a bat boy for the team in the 1980s.
He was a baseball broadcaster for Stanford throughout college, and an intern at the Baseball Hall of Fame after graduating, but eventually returned to Habersham with Liz in 2005 to accept their first teaching jobs.
When the couple moved to St. Thomas in 2012 to work at the VI Montessori School & Peter Gruber International Academy, they found a community that was just as tight-knit as Cornelia.
The school’s principal called it a “three-legged stool.” Because the academy was small, with only 400 students from pre-K to 12th grade, it had a strong sense of cohesion. Parents and teachers would often see each other socially.
This is how the couple got to know Noel, a small-business owner on the island.
McFarlane was not the first St. Thomas athlete the Elgers took in. In 2017, Liz was contacted by the mother of two aspiring soccer players, Quinn and Grant Farrell, who asked if they could stay with her in Georgia.
Grant spent his senior year playing for Habersham, and soon secured an athletic scholarship at Division II Emmanuel University, in nearby Franklin Springs, Ga. The high school’s baseball coach, Chris Akridge, took notice.
Alex McFarlane with his high school baseball coach at Habersham Central, Chris Akridge, in Atlanta earlier this month.Chris Akridge
“Chris was kind of teasing us,” Joey said. “‘Do you know any baseball players?’”
As it turns out, they did. By the fall of 2018, McFarlane was at Habersham’s workouts. To Akridge, the timing was almost too good to be true.
The Raiders had only secured one playoff berth in their last 50 years. They’d recorded only one winning season in their last six. All of a sudden, Habersham had a player who could do it all: hit leadoff, roam center field, and start every seven days.
McFarlane led his team in all offensive categories, batting .480 with a .570 on-base percentage, and a 1.270 OPS. He led (or tied) his team in all pitching categories as well, posting a 1.80 ERA with 68 strikeouts and a 1.074 WHIP across 10 starts.
Even as a teenager, he emanated the toughness he’d later show as a Phillie. Akridge remembers one outing, against Appalachee High School, when McFarlane gave up a cheap home run to an eight-hole hitter in the third.
At first, he looked rattled. Then he settled in, and threw a complete game in a comeback victory. The next day, McFarlane approached his coach at school.
“He said, ‘You know, coach, that was awesome,’” Akridge recalled. “‘I’ve never experienced anything like that.’”
Joey and Liz and their daughters, Grady and Niall, attended every game, often FaceTiming Noel so she could see her son pitch. They quickly realized that they were not alone.
Joey Elger grew up a big Braves fan, and even served as a bat boy for the team in the 1980s.Joey Elger
When McFarlane took the mound, scouts flocked to Habersham; usually 20 to 25 of them, leaning against the fence and crowding the stands. They began to visit the Elgers’ home, talking to the prospect at their living room table.
Because Noel was back in St. Thomas, Joey and Liz supervised these visits. This led to some interesting encounters. One afternoon, former Braves infielder Keith Lockhart showed up to their door.
He was scouting for the Chicago Cubs. Liz asked the former big leaguer if he wanted any water, and went to the kitchen to grab a cup. The one she chose happened to be a giveaway from the 2001 NLDS, when Lockhart was on the Braves’ roster.
“It was a plastic cup, and he was on there,” she said, laughing. “It was a picture of their celebration after they won.”
Scouts would often ask McFarlane who his favorite player was growing up. The young pitcher didn’t hesitate, and as a Braves fan, Joey never forgot his answer.
“Chris Sale,” he recalled. “And I remember him mentioning his approach as much as anything. He said that he just had such an even keel out there. Watching him, he never felt like he was out of control.”
Grady Elger (left), Alex McFarlane, and Niall Elger at a Jersey Shore BlueClaws game in 2025.Liz Elger
From Braves fans to Phillies fans
After McFarlane graduated from Habersham in 2019, and attended Miami, the Elgers moved to Lithuania for another teaching assignment.
They still managed to keep track of their favorite pitcher though, sending texts after his outings, and catching the occasional minor league game whenever they were back in the United States.
In the summer of 2025, they drove 10 hours from Georgia to Aberdeen, Md., to watch McFarlane pitch for single-A Jersey Shore. His game was rained out, so they found a Caribbean restaurant nearby and reminisced over dinner.
The family stayed for his game the following night, before flying to Tanzania, where they now live. They have become somewhat accustomed to seeing McFarlane in a baseball uniform, but what he’s done for the Phillies has been surreal to them.
And the Elgers have seen real growth in his demeanor. Joey pointed to the home run McFarlane gave up to the Braves’ Ronald Acuña on Sept. 6 as an example.
“When he started pitching in the Phillies organization, we noticed that the stuff that had just happened [in the game] was gone,” Elger said. “And he really was able to reset himself. I think probably three or four years before, if that Acuña home run had happened, we would have tensed up, ourselves.”
Rookie Alex McFarlane has quickly emerged as a crucial part of the Phillies’ bullpen.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Now, not so much. McFarlane had one of his best outings of the season just over a week later, when he struck out the Mets’ Juan Soto on three fastballs. Elger woke up in East Africa to a slew of text messages from family and friends.
He had to watch the video twice to believe it. So did Akridge, who sent the clip to his entire coaching staff.
“It’s crazy that seven years later, here he is, blowing the ball by Juan Soto,” Akridge said. “It’s amazing.”
The Elger and the Akridge families will be following closely on Tuesday night, from opposite corners of the world, as McFarlane goes up against their favorite team (and his favorite pitcher).
But they won’t waver in their support. Even if it comes at the expense of the Braves.
“We will be rooting for the Phillies with all of our hearts,” Liz said.
The Philadelphia School District is thousands of students under its enrollment projections this school year — and with an important funding deadline looming, Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. is sending officials knocking on doors to drum up business.
Central office staff and school workers have been asked to fast-track “Enrollment Acceleration,” a new, district-specific programdirectly engaging families that have left the Philadelphia school system, The Inquirer has learned.
District staff — up to and including chiefs and assistant superintendents — are fanning out across the city, pounding the pavement to try to connect with reluctant families face-to-face. The door knocking began in the last two weeks.
The effort is driven by a shrinking student body in district schools and an Oct. 1 deadline to report enrollment — which drives district funding — to the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
District schools were 4,236 students under their projected enrollment as of Sept. 17, according to internal documents obtained by The Inquirer. District-run alternative programs had 1,051 fewer students than planned.
The school system had projected 116,898 in district schools by Sept. 17, and 2,757 in alternative schools. Instead, its enrollment was 112,662 in district schools and 1,706 in alternative schools.
Asked to comment on the enrollment decline, a district spokesperson said it was too early to estimate annual enrollment because the state’s verification process does not conclude until Oct. 30. But, Monique Braxton said, it’s part of a nationwide trend of dwindling public school enrollment.
“The district’s goal is to get district operated schools as close as possible to that of last year’s number of approximately 116,898 students, such that we can grow our enrollment next school year,” Braxton said in a statement.
Enrollment is down virtually everywhere in the city.
Just two of 15 networks did not lose students, according to the Sept. 17 figures — Learning Network 9, a geographic network of elementary and middle schools in Kensington, Bridesburg, Port Richmond, and Frankford, and Learning Network 15, a network of magnet schools across the city.
Voting with their feet
Once the 2026-27 school year began Aug. 24, it became quickly clear that there were fewer district students in seats than expected.
Many factors likely play into the enrollment decline.
Though academics have generally been improving in the school system — Philadelphia was tops in the nation in its learning rate post-pandemic, according to research out of Harvard and Stanford — the district still struggles, with most students unable to read (33%) or do math (25%) at grade level.
(Philadelphia charter schools’ performance is slightly worse in reading, 31%, and slightly worse in math, 20%.)
Also a likely factor is the effect of the school board voting recently to close 17 schools in the next several years. Officials have said they are doing so to improve academic outcomes for all students, amid 70,000 empty seats citywide, a stock of aging buildings and decades of underfunding, and emphasized that in addition to the closings, they plan to spend billions on renovating 169 of the buildings they’re keeping open — though most of that plan is unfunded.
There are other reasons, too: Some staff say the current political climate has fears of ICE keeping some students out of school. And cyber charter enrollment is growing, with some Philadelphia families choosing the virtual option because of safety fears for their children as the city grapples with a gun violence epidemic.
“The district is a hard sell for some families,” said one central-office employee who was not authorized to speak about the enrollment decline. “You have a lot of families who have just unfortunately lost faith in a lot of the offerings that we have, and they’re voting with their feet.”
A full-court press
Since the surprise decline became apparent when school started, “we’ve been working hard to close the gap,” the employee said.
At first, schools were directed to reach out themselves via calls and emails to students they expected to enroll but who never showed up. Soon, almost-daily briefings on closing the enrollment gap began, and have continued.
Next, the administration moved to canvassing events, asking central office employees and school staff to volunteer to go out in pairs into neighborhoods to reach families. Canvassing also includes trips to neighborhood barbershops, laundromats, and corner stores “trying to convince students to return back to the district, rather than remain in whatever other option they decided on.”
About 75 employees volunteered for the effort, the employee said. It is still ongoing.
Some schools and departments pushed back against the call to directly appeal to students, with officials they didn’t feel comfortable sending staff into neighborhoods. Others are going out, the employee said.
The campaign is an extraordinary step, said the employee.
“I’ve never known an assistant superintendent or anyone going so far as this, being part of canvassing,” said the employee source.
Much is at stake.
“Our funding is based on numbers,” the employee said. (Both state and federal funding are tied to enrollment.)
And the district has generally been shrinking for decades.
In 1999, just after the first charter schools opened in Pennsylvania, the district enrolled 205,199 students in its schools. By 2025, that number was 113,735. (An additional 64,469 students were enrolled in charters.)
The district’s enrollment rose once in the last decade: in 2024-25, jumping by 1,841 students to 117,956. Watlington said he believed the next year’s drop happened because of large-scale SEPTA bus route changes at the start of the school year.
‘Warm conversations’
A second employee involved in the recent recruitment efforts said the call to canvass came with surprising urgency.
“They said, ‘It needs to be done in the next two weeks, because our numbers have to go to the state Oct. 1,’” said the employee, who also asked to not be identified because they were not authorized to speak about the enrollment push.
The second employee was paired with another volunteer. They received a several-page handout with instructions about how to conduct the visits, and a suggested script.
“We’re reaching out because we want to make sure your child has a clear plan for school and see how we can support you,”the second employee said.
Canvassers were told to ask if the family planned to return their children to the district, to begin a “warm conversation” and to help families with information about how to register for district schools. They were told to help address any barriers to registration.
Teams were told their safety is paramount, asked to not enter homes, and reminded to end a visit if either team member feels unsafe.
“Remember,” one handout said, “you are there to understand, inform, support and connect — not to convince.”
The second employee wasn’t especially enthusiastic about canvassing, but felt pressure to do so.
“What can I say on somebody’s doorstep to get them registered in the school district? Nothing,” the employee said.
The first employee said they were not having success with families.
“The houses I’ve been to haven’t been very responsive,” the employee said. “But I’ve been having very cool conversations with neighbors.”
Many families aren’t home or don’t answer the door, and the employee doesn’t blame them. They could be mistrustful of authorities or people they don’t know or worry about their safety.
Four people involved in the “come-back-to-the-district” effort said they were skeptical it would help the school system reach its projections.
“It’s going to yield something, but it’s not going to yield enough to cover up the fact that we’re several thousand away from meeting our projection of 116,000,” the employee said.
History isn’t on the side of a Phillies’ wild-card comeback
Bryson Stott jogs off the field after the final out as Braves players celebrate their Game 1 win. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
If the Phillies hope to comeback against the Atlanta Braves, they’ll also need to overcome history.
Since 2022, when MLB made the best-of-three wild-card series permanent, 16 teams have gone down 0-1. Just one team – the New York Yankees in 2025 – managed to come back to win the series.
There’s also Phillies history to overcome. Philly is 0-9 all-time when losing Game 1 in any postgame series.
Austin Riley celebrates his game-winning three-run homer against the Phillies.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
ATLANTA – Not this time.
With the Phillies one out from taking a one-run lead into the ninth inning here Tuesday – and possibly stealing another Game 1 of another playoff series against the rival Braves – Jhoan Duran gave up a go-ahead three-run homer to Austin Riley in a 5-3 loss.
The Phillies now trail in the best-of-three series. Since 2022, when the wildcard miniseries was created, the winner of Game 1 has won all but one of 16 series.
Duran was called into the game in the seventh inning, a drastic move by interim manager Don Mattingly in an attempt to mitigate a combustible bullpen. Duran retired the side on 12 pitches and came back out for the eighth inning.
After Duran swiftly got two outs, including a line drive back to the mound, Michael Harris II reached on a throwing error by shortstop Trea Turner. After Ozzie Albies got hit by a pitch on the foot, Riley smashed a 100 mph fastball to right field.
Phillies turn to closer Jhoan Duran early to hold late lead
Phillies closer Jhoan Duran pitches in the seventh inning. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
ATLANTA – J.T. Realmuto snapped an 0-for-34 slump in the final game of the regular season. Now, he has given the Phillies a lead in Game 1 of the wild-card series.
Oh, and Jhoan Duran is being asked to hold it … in the seventh inning.
After the Phillies knocked Braves ace Chris Sale from the game with one out in the seventh inning, Realmuto lined a 99-mph fastball from Braves reliever Didier Fuentes into the right-field corner to drive home Bryan De La Cruz and Bryson Stott and open a 3-2 lead.
Duran, the star closer, has gotten more than three outs in a game only once this season.
Phillies reliever Alex McFarlane gave up a run in the sixth inning against the Braves.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
ATLANTA — Stop us if you’ve heard this before: The Phillies’ bullpen gave up a go-ahead run.
The first call to the bullpen in the postseason went to hard-throwing rookie Alex McFarlane, among the few trusted options for interim manager Don Mattingly. And after allowing a one-out single to Michael Harris II, McFarlane gave up an RBI triple off leaping Derek Hill’s glove at the wall in right-center field.
Hill, who gained notoriety for robbing a homer earlier in the season against the Mets in New York, nearly did it again — and in the same spot in Turner Field where Harris stole a homer from Nick Castellanos and doubled off Bryce Harper to end Game 2 of the 2023 NL division series.
But Hill couldn’t come down with Albies’ blast. He lost his glove, regrouped on the warning track, and held Albies to a triple.
McFarlane emerged as the top setup reliever in the Phillies’ shaky bullpen despite being in double-A at the All-Star break. He got called up in late July and posted a 2.84 ERA in 19 games.
In the top of the sixth inning, Bryce Harper nearly put the Phillies ahead with a two-run home run off Braves starter Chris Sale. However, it drifted a few feet right of the foul pole in right field.
Harper ultimately grounded out to shortstop and the game remained tied — for the moment. In the bottom half of the inning, it was again a difference of inches that helped the Braves break the tie and take their first lead of the series, as a triple from Ozzie Albies hit off the hand of center fielder Derek Hill.
The double off reliever Alex McFarlane, who had recently taken over for starter Jesus Luzardo, put the Phillies down, 2-1. If they go on to drop Game 1, those two moments could loom large.
Jesús Luzardo gave up one run in five innings against the Braves in Game 1 on Tuesday.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
ATLANTA — Jesús Luzardo was more than an opener.
Making his first start in 22 days because of an inflamed left shoulder, Luzardo faced 22 batters, recorded 15 outs on 77 pitches, and got the Phillies through five innings in a 1-1 game against Braves ace Chris Sale.
Rookie reliever Alex McFarlane entered to begin the sixth.
Luzardo breezed through a 10-pitch first inning, allowed a run in the second, then set down nine of 12 batters.
The Phillies’ bullpen didn’t stir until the fifth inning, when Jonathan Bowlan and lefty Tim Mayza began loosening. But Luzardo struck out Ha-Seong Kim and Drake Baldwin, and after hitting Ronald Acuna Jr. on the foot, he got Matt Olson to ground out.
Luzardo hadn’t started since a 109-pitch complete game against the Braves on Sept. 7.
Jesus Luzardo has struck out four through four innings.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
ATLANTA — Interim manager Don Mattingly said that the Phillies’ plan for Jesús Luzardo’s start on Tuesday was to “read and react.”
The lefty had not started a game since his Sept. 7 shutout against the Braves, so no one was sure what to expect from him in Game 1. Well, Luzardo’s pitch count is at 61 through four innings and the Phillies don’t have an arm up quite yet in the bullpen. Several relievers have begun their stretching routines during the top of the fifth, but at the moment it appears that Luzardo will be returning for the bottom of the inning.
The Braves have one run on three hits against him as the game remains deadlocked at 1-1. Luzardo has struck out four, two on his fastball and two on his sweeper.
Ha-Seong Kim tags Trea Turner as he tries to steal second base in the third inning.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
ATLANTA — Chris Sale only picked off one baserunner all season.
It took until the third inning of Game 1 for him to notch his second. Sale fooled Trea Turner, who was off and running from first as Sale stepped off the rubber, and was easily tagged out at second to end the top of the third inning. Turner made some contact with Atlanta shortstop Ha-Seong Kim while sliding, and Kim stayed down for a few moments.
After a 23-pitch first inning, Sale has been much more efficient. He needed eight pitches for the second and 12 pitches for the third.
ATLANTA — After a 10-pitch first inning from Jesús Luzardo, he dealt with some traffic in the second.
With runners on the corners, Atlanta third baseman Austin Riley attempted to check his swing, but the ball hit off the knob of his bat. It rolled back to Luzardo, who grabbed it, and caught Mauricio Dubón in a run down between third and home for the second out of the inning.
The Braves tied up the game on the very next pitch, when Mike Yastrzemski singled up the middle. But after falling behind, 3-0, to Ha-Seong Kim, Luzardo battled back to strike him out on a fastball, stranding a pair.
Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Chris Sale pitches in the first inning against the Phillies in game 1 of the National League Wild Card.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
The top of the Phillies’ lineup scored a run off Kyle Schwarber’s one-out walk and Alec Bohm’s two-out double, and, significantly, worked braves ace Chris Sale for 21 of the 23 pitches he threw in the first inning.
Alec Bohm hits a RBI double in the first inning against the Braves. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
ATLANTA — The Phillies drew first blood in Game 1.
In a 2-2 count, Alec Bohm chased a high four-seam fastball from Chris Sale and sent it to the center field wall. Michael Harris II couldn’t come up with the catch, allowing Kyle Schwarber to score from first and Bohm to sail into second with a double.
The Braves held the Phillies to one run in the first, but Sale has looked erratic early. He still struck out Trea Turner and Bryce Harper — dialing his fastball up to 100 mph to get Harper swinging — but he has not been working in the zone much. The Phillies will need to cut down on their chasing to keep the pressure on the Atlanta ace.
According to Statcast, Chris Sale gave up only one hit all season on a fastball above the strike zone. And that was a single to Bobby Witt Jr. – on Opening Day. https://t.co/frSSo6yZuA
Cristopher Sánchez on starting Game 2 and his confidence in Jesús Luzardo
Cristopher Sánchez will start Game 2 Wednesday. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
ATLANTA — Cristopher Sánchez was sitting among the relievers in the Phillies’ bullpen during Game 162.
He didn’t get called on — if he had, it would only have been in a true emergency situation — but it had been left-hander’s idea to head out there that day after catch play.
“I let [interim manager Don Mattingly] know early on that I was ready to go out there for an inning if they needed me,” Sánchez said through team interpreter Diego D’Aniello. “It’s just an important game, so I was just ready to go in case they needed me. But I did let him know early on that I felt great and ready to go.”
Now, Sánchez is lined up to start Wednesday’s Game 2 against the Braves. But before they can get there, the Phillies are turning to fellow lefty Jesús Luzardo for Game 1. Luzardo did wind up making a relief appearance during Sunday’s regular season finale, needing four pitches for the eighth inning, his first time facing live hitters since Sept. 7.
“He prepared himself in the best way possible while he was out and he never let go,” Sánchez said of Luzardo. “He was just ready, focused, and prepared for him to come back in the healthiest way possible for him. It’s not a coincidence that he had a great outing at home on Sunday. It was a good inning, he pitched a good inning, and that’s what I’m expecting from him today to have a good outing, a good start. And he’s going to be able to give us the win tonight. That’s what I expect out of him.”
Sánchez and Luzardo are the only two lefties in the Phillies’ rotation. Despite their different arsenals and their physical differences — Sánchez stands six inches taller than Luzardo — they have more in common than it might appear. Both mainly rely on one key out pitch that is one of the best of its kind in baseball: Sánchez’s changeup and Luzardo’s sweeper.
“We help each other out a lot,” Sánchez said. “I learn a lot from him, and I’m pretty sure that he learns a lot from me too. We talk a lot. We have a lot of conversations too. He’s a great pitcher, and the year he had, I think he deserves it. He works for it, and I’m just happy for him, and I think he deserves all the good things that happened to him this year.”
Can the Phillies find success against Braves ace Chris Sale?
Braves ace Chris Sale has been dominant against the Phillies. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
The Phillies found a little bit of success against Chris Sale their last time out, scoring three runs in seven innings of a 6-5 loss on Sept. 11. In their previous five games against the Braves lefty, the Phillies had managed just four runs in 31 innings.
All three of those runs on Sept. 11 came on a bases clearing double by Derek Hill in the second inning. Not surprisingly, Hill is in the lineup for Game 1 on Monday.
“It doesn’t ever get easier with him,” Phillies manager Don Mattingly said a few hours before first pitch. “The more you see him, maybe you’ve also had some back and forth with pitches and counts and how he pitches you, so you have a little better feel for that. But that doesn’t really make it any easier.
“I think with guys like Chris, you have to be able to give and take. You try to take something from him. Maybe it’s a pitch, maybe it’s a side, maybe it’s whatever, height maybe you’re looking at.
“But you just don’t take the whole plate and say I’m going to handle everything. It’s kind of hard nowadays with anybody like that with the stuff that guys have.
“The more you see him, I don’t know if it helps you or helps him one way or the other. But it’s nice that you at least have seen the angle. You’ve seen the movement. You have some sort of ground zero.”
How will Andrew Painter fare if he’s needed out of the bullpen?
Rookie Andrew Painter came out from the bullpen twice this season.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
ATLANTA – As much as the Phillies are unsure what to expect from Jesus Luzardo in Game 1, they can’t predict how rookie starter Andrew Painter will fare if he’s needed out of the bullpen either.
But it won’t stop them from using him.
“I think you look at it and, is he one of our better guys?” interim manager Don Mattingly said. “That’s just what I’m look at. And he’s one of our better guys. He’s been obviously starting all year long. He’s got different pitches. Yeah, he’s one of our better guys. It’s hard to go to somebody else that, I don’t want to use names, but somebody else over him that’s not the same caliber.”
A starter throughout his time in the minor leagues, Painter did come in from the bullpen twice this season. He entered in the third inning April 12 after overcoming a migraine that prevented him from starting; the Phillies brought him in behind an opener June 12 in Milwaukee.
Otherwise, the 23-year-old has only started.
“It’s hard to be too comfortable in that you haven’t seen him out of the pen,” Mattingly said. “The phone rings, you’ve got to get up and get going. We haven’t been able to do that. We didn’t get to that.”
Mattingly said the “best-case scenario” would be to use Painter at the beginning of an inning, without runners on base, after giving him ample time to warm up. But the Phillies also won’t hesitate to use Painter in a stickier situation if he’s the best option.
Jesus Luzardo will start Game 1 against the Braves Tuesday afternoon.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
ATLANTA – Upon announcing that Jesus Luzardo would start Game 1 for the Phillies, Don Mattingly quickly clarified.
“I should say open,” he said.
The Braves aren’t buying it.
Never mind that Luzardo has thrown four pitches in a game over the last three weeks because of an inflamed left shoulder. The Braves won’t believe he’s limited until they see it.
“Very skeptical,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said Tuesday, laughing. “Donnie is great, man. I think if he’s pitching well, he’ll keep going. That’s kind of how I look at it, and that’s typically how it works. I didn’t put a whole lot of stock into that. I’m sure the game will dictate how deep he goes.”
Indeed, although Mattingly wouldn’t disclose a pitch limit for Luzardo, he elaborated about the Phillies would approach Luzardo.
“Medical calls it ‘read and react,’” Mattingly said. “So, I think that’s what it is today.”
In other words, the Phillies will take whatever they can get from Luzardo before turning to the bullpen.
Pitcher Brooks Raley didn’t make the Phillies’ wild-card roster.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
The Phillies announced their wild-card roster Tuesday morning, and reliever Brooks Raley did not make the cut. That means all three players the Phillies acquired at the trade deadline won’t play during the wild-card series.
Second baseman Luis Arraez is out with a sprained left ankle, while reliever Caleb Kilian was placed on the 60-day injured reserve with an oblique strain.
Pitchers (12): Left-handers – José Alvarado, Tanner Banks, Jesús Luzardo, Tim Mayza and Cristopher Sánchez. Right-handers – Jonathan Bowlan, Jhoan Duran, Alex McFarlane, Aaron Nola, Andrew Painter, Chase Shugart and Zack Wheeler.
Catchers (3): Rafael Marchán, J.T. Realmuto and Garrett Stubbs.
Infielders (5): Alec Bohm, Otto Kemp, Edmundo Sosa, Bryson Stott and Trea Turner.
Outfielders (5): Justin Crawford, Bryan De La Cruz, Bryce Harper, Derek Hill and Brandon Marsh.
Kyle Schwarber could be on the move again in the Phillies’ lineup.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Will Kyle Schwarber be back batting leadoff again this series?
Two moves reeked of panic to me over the weekend when the walls were closing in: starting Aaron Nola on two-days’ rest and moving Trea Turner to leadoff.
No Phils batter has hit first more in the last five years since Schwarber, who had been batting leadoff again this season since August. You want to change it up? Do it two weeks ago and not in the final weekend when everyone is talking about 1964. The offense has been at its best over the last five years when Schwarber is batting leadoff. There’s no reason to go away from that now.
I’m also curious about the Phillies’ plan to navigate the late innings if they have a lead.
How do they get the ball to Johan Duran? Jonathan Bowlan is back but hasn’t pitched since Sept. 17. Does Don Mattingly trust him like he did before the groin injury? Jose Alvarado was rocked on Saturday by the Rays. Can you ask him to get important outs? Alex McFarlane’s velocity dipped in the final week and the results were concerning on Sunday. Brooks Raley was acquired to be that guy, but he’s almost unusable.
This series could ultimately be decided by the bullpen and the lack of options.
After clinching on Sunday, the Phillies open their fifth straight postseason on Tuesday in Atlanta.David Maialetti / Staff Photographer
The Phillies have won 88 or more games just 23 times in their 144-year history. And I can’t imagine any of those 23 seasons were more maddening than the last six months. Well, maybe that 1964 season was. But we don’t need to rehash that right now.
The Phils have given you enough reasons this month to doubt that they can win twice in Atlanta and keep this thing going. They still don’t have a cleanup hitter, the bullpen is thinner than the new-look Joel Embiid, they lost their second-to-last game of the season by 11 runs, and they’re carrying three catchers on their postseason roster. So it’s hard to be bullish on the Phils, who are countering Chris Sale with an opener in Game 1 on Tuesday (2 p.m., NBC).
But before you check out, remember that this Braves team actually seems beatable. Their bullpen is even stronger with the return of Robert Suarez but they lost two starters this month to injuries. The Phillies know what Ronald Acuna Jr. did in September but Matt Olson, Ozzie Albies, and Austin Riley each had an OPS in September less than .640. And the Braves have not won a playoff series since they won it all in 2021. Two of their last three October exits were at the hands of the Phils.
So here’s three ways to talk yourself back into the Phillies before the start of the wild-card series.
They’ve been here before. Twice. The Phils weren’t able to line up their pitchers in the 2022 and 2023 NLDS after using Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola to get through the wild-card round. They arrived in Atlanta both years with questions about their pitching. The Phils used Ranger Suárez, who gave the Phils three-plus innings in back-to-back years and proved his mettle while becoming one of this era’s beloved players. The Phils are in a similar pinch on Tuesday as Wheeler and Cristopher Sánchez are unavailable after pitching in the final series of the season.
Jesús Luzardo will start Game 1 but interim manager Don Mattingly called him an “opener” as the Phils don’t know how long Luzardo can pitch three days after returning from the injured list. If the Phillies can steal another Game 1 in Atlanta, someone has to do their best Ranger. A combination of Luzardo and Andrew Painter seems like the plan for the bulk of the outs.
Not the worst thing for the Phillies to hit the road
Kyle Schwarber and the Phillies will hit the road for Game 1.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Game 1 is important in any postseason series. In a best-of-three, it’s imperative.
Since the wild-card miniseries was instituted in 2022, 11 of the 16 series ended in sweeps. Only one team has overcome a Game 1 loss to win the series, and the 2025 Yankees were playing at home against the Red Sox.
Most teams prefer to open the playoffs at home. But after a week from hell, in which they lost four games in a row amid a chorus of boos and only narrowly avoided an epic collapse, maybe it’s best for the Phillies to get away.
“I mean, we’re not afraid,” Kyle Schwarber said following Sunday’s win. “That’s the biggest thing is that we’re not fazed by where we’re playing.”
In fact, the Phillies had a better record on the road (45-36) than at home (43-38). They’ve also lost five of their last six postseason games at home dating to Game 6 of the 2023 NL Championship Series.
John Kruk back in a suit to call Phillies-Braves series
John Kruk will be back in a suit to call Phillies-Braves on NBCNBC Sports
The Phillies’ wild-card series against the Atlanta Braves won’t air on NBC Sports Philadelphia, but that won’t stop John Kruk from calling the game.
Kruk will part of a crowded broadcast on NBC that will feature play-by-play announcer Matt Vasgersian, fellow analyst C.J. Nitkowski, and Joey Votto serving as a pitching analyst. Ashley ShahAhmadi will report from Truist Park.
Tuesday’s game will also feature Kruk squeezing back into a suit, a requirement for announcers calling MLB games on NBC.
“I think I probably object to the verb choice [forcing],” Jason Benetti, NBC’s top MLB announcer, during a conference call Monday.
John Kruk in a suit looks like someone who’s been advised by a judge to not represent themself in court. pic.twitter.com/hkNmcBqPSh
Kurk’s unusual attire (at least for him) have led to some funny broadcast moments, including the revelation he brought five ties with him when he called a Phillies game on NBC in July alongside former Phillies manager Joe Girardi.
Four were clip-ons, which he struggled to put on during the broadcast.
“It’s pure entertainment sitting here next to John Kruk,” Girardi said.
While Benetti isn’t calling the Phillies-Braves series, he has shared the booth with Kruk a handful of times this season, and came away impressed with the former Phillies great’s baseball mind.
“John Kruk is a lethally great baseball analyst,” Benetti said. “He sees things in advance. He has fun… You never know if he’s just lightly pulling one over on your, you never fully know, and that is a joy to be around.”
The game can also be heard on 94.1 WIP, with longtime Phillies broadcaster Scott Franzke calling all the action alongside Larry Andersen.
Angel Castillo, and Bill Kulik will call Phillies-Braves in Spanish on La Unika 1680 AM.
Jesús Luzardo returned from the injured list to pitch out of the bullpen in the Phillies’ playoff-clinching win over the Rays on Sunday.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
In 2023, the Phillies came to Atlanta for a playoff series with their best two pitchers unavailable to start Game 1 against a record-setting offense.
So, they got creative.
It was difficult not to feel a twinge of déjà vu Monday, when Don Mattingly announced Jesús Luzardo will start — “I should say open,” he clarified — Game 1 of a best-of-three wild-card series against the Braves.
Luzardo should get down-ballot Cy Young votes for a 2.86 ERA and 221 strikeouts in 179⅔ innings. But he has thrown four pitches in a game over the last three weeks because of an inflamed left shoulder. And while catcher J.T. Realmuto said the Phillies “don’t think 10 days off is necessarily long enough to throw him out of whack,” the truth is … well, let’s let Mattingly tell it.
“I don’t think we really know what to expect,” he said.
The Phillies planned to have Zack Wheeler start Game 1 against Braves ace Chris Sale. But they needed him Sunday in a must-win regular-season finale. Cristopher Sánchez is lined up for Game 2 on regular rest. Aaron Nola? He’d have been an option, if not for a panicky gambit to start him on two days’ rest Saturday night.
Maybe Luzardo will tap into postseason adrenaline and last six innings. Maybe he’ll go once through the Braves’ order. He threw four fastballs to get three outs in the eighth inning of a four-run game in the rain Sunday against the Rays, who had nothing to play for.
Scott Franzke’s postseason pep talk to Phillies fans
Radio announcer Scott Franzke is in his 21st season calling Phillies games.NBC Sports Philadelphia
The vibes heading into the playoffs aren’t great, but longtime Phillies radio announcer Scott Franzke managed to offer something of a postseason pep talk directed at cynical fans prior to Saturday night’s loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.
“You can pick whatever word you want for your feeling watching the Phillies baseball team these past few weeks. Maybe it’s frustrated. Maybe it’s angry. Maybe it’s exhausted,” Franzke said. “You feel that way because you’re a fan, and because you’re at your core a fan of this team. You still want them to win.”
Franzke has been through it all in his 21 season calling Phillies games, everything from a World Series win in 2008 to 99-loss season in 2015. Like fans across the Delaware Valley, he’s experienced the highs and lows of rooting for the Phillies.
“Now, I know all of you are not going to feel that way. I get it. You’re going to be like, ‘Hey, Scott, you’re such a homer, settle down,’” Franzke said. “But I’m doing to choose a different word for what’s ahead… excited, because we have witnessed one of the great runs in Phillies franchise history these last five years.”
“It might not work out the way we want it to,” Franzke added. “Nevertheless, as we like to say, I’ll try to keep the faith a little bit longer.”
Phillies should benefit as ABS system makes playoff debut
J.T. Realmuto has been very successful in his challenges to balls and strikes.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
This will be the first postseason to feature the automated ball‑strike (ABS) challenge system. That should benefit the Phillies, considering catcher J.T. Realmuto’s extreme success challenging balls and strikes.
As for other playoff rule changes, there will be no “ghost runners” during the postseason.
MLB’s designated runner rule puts a player on second base to begin each half-inning if a game is tied after nine innings. The rule was an attempt to preserve pitching staffs and avoid extra-long regular season games.
But during the playoffs, that rule is out the window. So if a postseason games enter extra innings, you won’t see anyone on second base.
The Phillies have won 88 or more games just 23 times in their 144-year history. And I can’t imagine any of those 23 seasons were more maddening than the last six months. Well, maybe that 1964 season was. But we don’t need to rehash that right now.
The Phils have given you enough reasons this month to doubt that they can win twice in Atlanta and keep this thing going. They still don’t have a cleanup hitter, the bullpen is thinner than the new-look Joel Embiid, they lost their second-to-last game of the season by 11 runs, and they’re carrying three catchers on their postseason roster. So it’s hard to be bullish on the Phils, who are countering Chris Sale with an opener in Game 1 on Tuesday (2 p.m., NBC).
But before you check out, remember that this Braves team actually seems beatable. Their bullpen is even stronger with the return of Robert Suarez but they lost two starters this month to injuries. The Phillies know what Ronald Acuna Jr. did in September but Matt Olson, Ozzie Albies, and Austin Riley each had an OPS in September less than .640. And the Braves have not won a playoff series since they won it all in 2021. Two of their last three October exits were at the hands of the Phils.
So here’s three ways to talk yourself back into the Phillies before the start of the wild-card series.
Jesús Luzardo will start for the Phillies in Game 1.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
They’ve been here before. Twice. The Phils weren’t able to line up their pitchers in the 2022 and 2023 NLDS after using Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola to get through the wild-card round. They arrived in Atlanta both years with questions about their pitching. The Phils used Ranger Suárez, who gave the Phils three-plus innings in back-to-back years and proved his mettle while becoming one of this era’s beloved players. The Phils are in a similar pinch on Tuesday as Wheeler and Cristopher Sánchez are unavailable after pitching in the final series of the season. Jesús Luzardo will start Game 1 but interim manager Don Mattingly called him an “opener” as the Phils don’t know how long Luzardo can pitch three days after returning from the injured list. If the Phillies can steal another Game 1 in Atlanta, someone has to do their best Ranger. A combination of Luzardo and Andrew Painter seems like the plan for the bulk of the outs.
Video: Three things to watch in Phillies’ wild-card series vs. Braves
Chris Sale is dominant but the Phils should have a pitching advantagein Game 2 and 3. Tyler Mahle was excellent after being acquired at the trade deadline from San Francisco and allowed just one run this season in three starts against the Phils. But he did get roughed up by the Reds last week in his final start of the regular season and had a 5.13 ERA with the Giants before coming to Atlanta. He’s human and Sánchez is the better pitcher who the Phils hope can do enough to force a Game 3. If so, the Phils will have all hands on deck (even Wheeler) against Grant Holmes. The Braves placed Bryce Elder and Martin Perez on the injured list in September, depleting even more of their options after Sale and Mahle. If the Phils win one of the first two games, they’ll take their chances in an elimination game against Holmes.
The Phillies could use Bryce Harper turning into “The Showman” again in the postseason.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Bryce Harper still has five years left on his contract after 2026 but the championship window of the Harper Era seems to be closing, especially with 2027’s labor uncertainty looming. “We’ve never finished the job. We’ve got to do that,” Harper said Sunday after the Phils clinched a postseason berth. Surely, he knows there’s only so many more chances left to get the job done. Harper was quiet last October against the Dodgers but this could be the week he returns to being The Showman, who seems to meet the moment better than most. After Sale, the Phillies will get their chances against right-handed starters in Game 2 and 3.
Harper talked Monday about how he loves to play in Atlanta as he has a .916 OPS at SunTrust Park and has homered 18 times there since it opened in 2017. The Phillies didn’t do much offensively in September, but Harper did have a good series in Atlanta while the Phils lost two of three. Oct. 1 isn’t until Thursday. So the Phils have some work to do to reach Red October. This is Harper’s chance to power them there.
I’m curious to see …
If Kyle Schwarber is batting leadoff again. Two moves reeked of panic to me over the weekend when the walls were closing in: starting Nola on two-days’ rest and moving Trea Turner to leadoff. No Phils batter has hit first more in the last five years since Schwarber, who had been batting leadoff again this season since August. You want to change it up? Do it two weeks ago and not in the final weekend when everyone is talking about 1964. The offense has been at its best over the last five years when Schwarber is batting leadoff. There’s no reason to go away from that now.
Getting to star closer Jhoan Duran will be a key question for the Phillies for their postseason run.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
I’m also curious about …
The Phillies’ plan to navigate the late innings if they have a lead. How do they get the ball to Johan Duran? Jonathan Bowlan is back but hasn’t pitched since Sept. 17. Does Mattingly trust him like he did before the groin injury? Jose Alvarado was rocked on Saturday by the Rays. Can you ask him to get important outs? Alex McFarlane’s velocity dipped in the final week and the results were concerning on Sunday. Brooks Raley was acquired to be that guy, but he’s almost unusable. This series could ultimately be decided by the bullpen and the lack of options.
Luzardo will start on Tuesday, but Painter may be tasked with getting more outs as it doesn’t seem like the Phils are counting on Luzardo for too much length. Painter threw his four-seam fastball this season for 32.8% of his pitches and only one team has a worse slugging-percentage than the Braves this season against four-seamers. The Braves slugged .391 this season against four seamers and hit .235. Painter’s best start this season (two hits in seven shutout innings against Arizona earlier this month) came thanks to a dominant fastball. If his fastball is on Tuesday, the Braves’ lineup seems like his perfect match.
Presti’s Bakery was established about 120 years ago in Little Italy, Cleveland, but its influence has reached into the 21st-century Delaware County housing market.
Mike and Tori Gentile are leaving the Wallingford home they have loved so Mike can take over the family enterprise.
The green front door leads to the foyer at 5 Waterville Rd. in Wallingford.Dave Ocenas
The Gentiles bought the three-bedroom, 2½-bathroom, 1,622-square-foot Wallingford home in 2019, right before the COVID-19 shutdown, expecting a long stay.
“We really liked the Media-Swarthmore area,” said Tori, an interior designer for an architectural firm. Mike sells BMW cars. She thought the area was charming, and loved the nearby farmers market.
The house has a 0.77-acre lot, which Tori appreciated because it provided room for the family to grow. Plus, she said, “I liked the Pennsylvania stone and the open layout.”
The living room is anchored by a classic brick fireplace and custom mantel.Dave Ocenas
The first floor is home to the kitchen, dining room, living room, and family room. The kitchen has granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, and a subway tile backsplash, with a new refrigerator, dishwasher, and microwave. The living room has a brick fireplace.
There is a mudroom just off the kitchen with a dedicated laundry area and direct driveway access, and a bonus room with exposed brick has direct access to the backyard.
The spacious kitchen features granite countertops, new stainless-steel appliances, and subway tile.Dave Ocenas
The second floor has all three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The primary bedroom has dual closets and an en suite bathroom, and the hall bathroom has a barn-door vanity and tiled tub/shower surround.
A new French drain system was installed in 2019 and HVAC was replaced in 2020.
The unfinished basement has ample natural light.
The Gentiles used the COVID-19 “break” to install a paver stone patio and fenced-in garden.
The backyard has newer paver stone.Dave Ocenas
There are several close-by SEPTA Regional Rail stations and convenient access to I-95 and the Blue Route. Philadelphia and Wilmington are less than a half hour away.
There is a large one-car garage and driveway space for four cars.
The house is in the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District.
It is listed by Marisa Bruder of BHHS Fox & Roach Wayne-Devon for $545,000.
Down 13 points late in the third quarter, the Eagles faced fourth-and-1 on their own 49-yard line. Sirianni had his offense line up as if it would attempt the Tush Push with Jalen Hurts sneaking for the first down.
But it was a long yard, and the Bears weren’t fooled into jumping offside. The Eagles took a delay-of-game penalty and punted.
“As I look back at that, I probably should have went for it there,” Sirianni said. “Didn’t like that decision.”
It was one of many that backfired on the coach and his team in a dreadful 27-7 loss to the Chicago Bears on Monday night. Sirianni’s regrets were isolated to the game — from his fourth-down turtling to his sideline behavior — but it’s unclear how he felt about larger decisions that have affected this season’s Eagles.
It’s too early to make sweeping generalizations. But the first three games have suggested the following: the defense isn’t as good as many had expected, first-time offensive coordinator Sean Mannion isn’t yet the “mad genius” some had suggested, and general manager Howie Roseman’s roster has more holes than it has had in years.
And that may be why, in that moment, Sirianni didn’t roll the dice on fourth-and-1. He didn’t believe his offense could convert or his defense could hold if they didn’t. In 2025, it might have been the offense that held him back. In 2023, it was often the defense.
For the first time since maybe his first season, he may not have either side to lean on. And that’s a scary thought with the Los Angeles Rams coming to town Sunday and a trip to London to face the Jacksonville Jaguars the following week.
“I think we all have to own that loss right there,” Sirianni said. “I don’t think anybody coached well. I don’t think anyone played well. It was a true team loss, and when it’s a true team loss, I have to look at myself first.”
The Eagles are through the “easy” early part of their schedule. They eked by the dubious Washington Commanders and Tennessee Titans in the first two weeks, but they still won, and growing pains were always expected with Mannion’s new offense.
There were unexpected cracks in Vic Fangio’s defensive armor, though, or craters in areas that were thought to be mere crevices. The Bears, despite having to start 38-year-old third-string quarterback Case Keenum, exposed them.
It was hard not to compare the actual offensive wizardry of Chicago coach Ben Johnson to Mannion. Johnson was one step ahead of Fangio all night, just as he was a year ago. Maybe Johnson is just the veteran defensive coordinator’s kryptonite. And maybe he’s buoyed by one of the best offensive lines in the NFL.
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and Chicago Bears quarterback Case Keenum embrace at the end of the game at Soldier Field on Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, in Chicago, Ill. Chicago won 27-7.Monica Herndon / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Eagles linebacker Jalyx Hunt and Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Jonathan Greenard leave after the Chicago Bears game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Soldier Field.Monica Herndon / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts lies on the ground after getting sacked during the fourth quarter of the Chicago Bears game.Monica Herndon / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts watches the last two minutes of the game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. Chicago won 27-7.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts gets up after getting sacked in the fourth quarter.Monica Herndon / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts throws long on fourth down in the fourth quarter, pass incomplete at Soldier Field on Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, in Chicago, Ill.Monica Herndon / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Eagles wide receiver Makai Lemon makes a reception in the fourth quarter.Monica Herndon / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Eagles fan reacts after a penalty is called in the fourth quarter.Monica Herndon / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni in the fourth quarter. Chicago won 27-7.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts throws the ball to Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Makai Lemon in the fourth quarter.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Eagles linebacker Jonathan Greenard tackles Chicago Bears quarterback Case Keenum in the fourth quarter.Monica Herndon / Staff PhotographerChicago Bears quarterback Case Keenum almost loses possession of the ball in the fourth quarter.Monica Herndon / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Eagles linebacker Jihaad Campbell tackles Chicago Bears quarterback Case Keenum in the fourth quarter.Monica Herndon / Staff PhotographerChicago Bears linebacker T.J. Edwards after intercepting a pass in the third quarter.Monica Herndon / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts after throwing a third-quarter interception.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerChicago Bears wide receiver Kalif Raymond celebrates a touchdown during the third quarter.Monica Herndon / Staff PhotographerChicago Bears linebacker T.J. Edwards celebrates an interception in the third quarter.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith is wrapped up by Chicago Bears safety Elijah Hicks in the third quarter.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Eagles fans in the third quarter.Monica Herndon / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Eagles linebacker Jihaad Campbell and Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Zack Baun tackle Chicago Bears tight end Colston Loveland in the third quarter.Monica Herndon / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Eagles wide receiver Makai Lemon was tackled by Chicago Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson in the third quarter.Monica Herndon / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts throws the ball to Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Eagles linebacker Jalyx Hunt goes after Chicago Bears quarterback Case Keenum in the third quarter.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerChicago Bears fan reacts to the last-minute “tush push” score by Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts.Monica Herndon / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts looks up after scoring on the tush push with one second left to go.Monica Herndon / Staff PhotographerChicago Bears safety Dillon Thieneman celebrates an interception in the second quarter.Monica Herndon / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Eagles cornerback Quinyon Mitchell stops Chicago Bears running back D’Andre Swift in the second quarter.Monica Herndon / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Eagles tight end Zach Ertz is defended by Chicago Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson in the second quarter.Monica Herndon / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley runs by Chicago Bears safety Dillon Thieneman in the second quarter, just short of a touchdown.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Eagles cornerback Quinyon Mitchell breaks up a pass intended for Chicago Bears wide receiver Luther Burden III in the second quarter.Monica Herndon / Staff PhotographerChicago Bears running back D’Andre Swift gets stopped by Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter (left) and Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Moro Ojomo (right) in the second quarter.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerIncomplete pass to Chicago Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze in the second quarter, defended by Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Nolan Smith.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerChicago Bears wide receiver Luther Burden III scores as the Philadelphia Eagles defense tries to stop him during the first quarter.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Eagles linebacker Jihaad Campbell forces Chicago Bears wide receiver Luther Burden III out of bounds in the first quarter.Monica Herndon / Staff PhotographerChicago Bears wide receiver Luther Burden III celebrates a touchdown during the first quarter.Monica Herndon / Staff PhotographerChicago Bears running back D’Andre Swift runs with the ball against Philadelphia Eagles safety Marcus Epps in the first quarter.Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerChicago Bears quarterback Case Keenum hands off to Chicago Bears running back D’Andre Swift in the first quarter.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
But it used to be the Eagles that had enough O-line supremacy to win with a backup quarterback.
Speaking of backups, the offseason debacle at the No. 2 spot finally caught up to the Eagles. Andy Dalton gets a slight pass here. He was tossed into a tough spot having to jump in for Hurts, who left to have his head checked in the second quarter.
Yeah, Dalton threw a horrible pass on third down that was intercepted in the end zone. But maybe if he wasn’t splitting snaps all of training camp and the preseason with Tanner McKee, he would have had a few more repetitions on the particular play that Mannion called.
“I’ve had it a couple times,” Dalton said. “Obviously, gotten a lot of different looks, and for me, it’s something that I can learn from, especially on that play. I mean … safety just read my eyes and was in the right spot.”
Dalton has been in this role before, but he didn’t outright win the job over McKee. Keeping four quarterbacks on the roster never made sense and just seemed to be the Eagles’ unwillingness to admit they made a mistake in trading for the also-38-year-old.
It’s just one of several roster decisions that have already come back to haunt Roseman. He can’t invest heavily in every position, but he clearly didn’t do enough at safety after Reed Blankenship walked in free agency. Marcus Epps has been a liability and Andrew Mukuba isn’t yet capable enough to cover for his counterpart.
Linebacker Jihaad Campbell, a second-year starter like Mukuba, is struggling as well. It doesn’t help that the Eagles also let the currently better Nakobe Dean sign elsewhere this offseason.
And then there’s this year’s top rookies with wide receiver Makai Lemon still green and tight end Eli Stowers still on ice. First-year players should be given a grace period, but the Eagles didn’t do enough at their respective positions and it’s showing.
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni is 0-2 against Bears coach Ben Johnson.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Ultimately, these are Roseman problems. Sirianni’s issues extend to how the Eagles execute, and right now they’re uncharacteristically undisciplined. They had three turnovers on offense and failed to take away the ball on defense. Overall, they’re minus-5 in turnover differential, a statistic Sirianni considers of the utmost importance.
The Eagles had 10 penalties vs. the Bears, with so many either bringing back a long gain or giving the Bears life on third or fourth down. While the Eagles failed to get Chicago to jump on fourth down, defensive tackle Moro Ojomo carelessly committed a neutral zone infraction on fourth-and-2 early in the fourth quarter.
Mukuba and cornerback Riq Woolen had third-down penalties in the red zone. Guard Tyler Steen’s holding penalty brought back a long Saquon Barkley run. The Eagles must have had double-digit missed tackles a week after whiffing on 12 in Tennessee.
Sirianni and his coaches weren’t any better than their players. Mannion’s call for a screen pass to receiver DeVonta Smith with 19 seconds left before the half and the Eagles out of timeouts nearly resulted in the clock running out.
“We had 19 seconds,” Sirianni said. “We had plenty of time to be able to either get it clocked or do what we did in that particular case.”
They had one second left and if it wasn’t for Hurts’ quick thinking to skip the spike and sneak into the end zone from the 1-yard line, Sirianni would have taken more than just a jab to the jaw.
Mannion is Sirianni’s hire. He’s a first-time play-caller who needs patience to grow into the job. But his scheme has been unremarkable. He was supposedly hired to bring more under-center play-action to the offense, but the Eagles have not run much of it, or when they do, not effectively.
Where’s the misdirection? The aggressiveness? The innovation?
There were some positives in the run game. Barkley rushed for 73 yards on 11 carries in the first half, but he gained just 9 yards on four carries after the break.
Saquon Barkley nearly scores in the second quarter as Bears safety Dillon Thieneman pushes him out of bounds.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Hurts didn’t look like the fearless, pocket-savvy passer that he appeared to be in the first two games. He had moments in the first half but also missed short throws, held the ball too long, and threw a ghastly fourth-down interception to T.J. Edwards a few drives after the former Eagle nearly duped the quarterback into another pick.
Sirianni said he didn’t regret that fourth-and-5 decision that came at the Bears’ 46 just before the end of the third quarter. But it only made the other fourth-down call look that much worse.
“I think competitively, I’m always going to want to go for it,” Hurts said. “Always trust coach to make the right decision, given these situations.”
Tackle Lane Johnson suggested there was more at play than trying to draw the Bears offside.
“I don’t know if we didn’t pay attention to the clock,” he said. “There was a play, but I don’t think we’re all on the same play. I think there’s a lot of miscommunication.”
Rough day for Jalen Hurts: Here, he tries to throw the ball away as the Bears pass rush gets to him.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Sirianni’s Eagles have bounced back from worse. The season is a marathon. You’ve got to think Fangio corrects some of the defensive miscues. And the positive steps Hurts seemingly took in the first two weeks can’t be forgotten with just one shaky performance.
Change on offense was necessary, even if Kevin Patullo’s unit last season was never held under 10 points like Mannion’s was in just his third game as coordinator. But Sirianni remains the constant. Most of his teams have taken on his positive traits, if not one of the negatives.
He lost control of his emotions again after Hurts was decked by Bears linebacker D’Marco Jackson in the second quarter. It ended up being a fateful play, but the coach conceded that he went too far in yelling expletives at Jackson.
“I always love fighting for our players. I love our guys,” Sirianni said. “And so, the emotion of the game probably got the better of me today. And I have to learn from that in that particular moment. I have to be more steady in that situation.”
The Eagles, like their coach, got knocked off their axis at Soldier Field. The next few weeks could reveal if they have the resolve to get up after a shaky start.
