Why the Phillies should throw today's game

Tactically, it makes sense for the Phillies to lose to Atlanta today, assuming San Diego beats San Francisco. The subsequent 3-way tie would be a real stress on the other teams.

Now I'm not totally serious here; it would be less than honorable for a team to give less than its best, even if they play only scrubs and if the game is meaningless.

But if the Braves and Padres win, then there is a 3-way tie among them and the Giants at 91-71. What would happen is that the Giants and Padres would meet tomorrow, Monday, probably at San Diego because they've won the season series. So both teams would have to fly down to SD.

The loser of that game then flies out to Atlanta (the Braves won season series against both teams) to play Tuesday.

The NLDS begins Wednesday. If San Diego wins, they fly up to Philly. excited but not having slept well, and I think Cincinnati goes to San Francisco. If the Braves win then they fly to SF for Wednesday and Cincinnati flies to Philly. In any event, someone has to fly to Philly at the last minute.

Of course, the Padres-Giants game today is at 4PM, so the Phillies won't know the outcome until much later.