There is a process to making a deep run in the MLB playoffs. The Philadelphia Phillies knocked out a lot of those steps in the past two seasons with consecutive NLCS appearances and a pennant win in 2022. A division title and a World Series are the only things missing from this era of Phillies baseball. They knocked out the former Monday night.

The Phillies claimed their first NL East crown since 2011 with a 6-2 win over the Chicago Cubs at home. In front of a sold-out Citizens Bank Park crowd – as it's been for much of the season – the Phillies secured a top-three seed in the National League playoffs.

With five games remaining in the regular season, they're gunning for the No. 1 seed and potentially home-field advantage throughout the MLB postseason.

“That was our main goal in spring training, to win the division and get that first-round bye,” Phillies star Bryce Harper said, per the Associated Press. “Do all the things we can to kind of set us up for the postseason. The division was the first thing.”

The Phillies had two chances to clinch the division this past weekend in New York. Instead, they dropped three of four to the Mets and had to settle for trying to lock up the NL East in their final home series of the regular season. It was fitting that the first of what they hope is a plethora of celebrations happened in Philly.

“Being able to come home and do it here, in front of the best fans of baseball, in front of a fan base that showed out for us each night, it was just a lot of fun,” Harper said.

Phillies aiming to finish the job this October

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The Phillies endured consecutive heartbreaking finishes to their seasons in 2022 and 2023. They blew a 2-1 lead in the 2022 World Series to the Houston Astros, then lost two straight at home – including Game 7 – to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2023 NLCS.

Philadelphia knew those wouldn’t be the only chances it got to earn another championship. The Phils are built to win now and have a bright foreseeable future. The franchise made five consecutive trips to the postseason from 2007-2011. This group is on a good pace to match that stretch, but Philly won the World Series in year two of that span in 2008.

It's difficult to bounce back from playoff losses like the Phillies experienced. Their confidence didn’t waver this season and they'll have another opportunity to bring a championship to the City of Brotherly Love.

“This is a team that’s going to play for a long time, be competitive for a long time,” Bryce Harper said, per MLB.com. “Obviously, we have a really good team right now and this is our window with this team right now.”

Monday's win pushed the Phillies to just a half-game behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for the NL's top seed. Philadelphia owns the tiebreaker over LA via winning the season series, so Philly needs to match LA's record to secure the No. 1 seed.