Nola, Schwarber star as Phillies end drought

For the first time, officially, in 11 years, the Philadelphia Phillies are headed back to the MLB playoffs.

A pair of homers by Kyle Schwarber and an outstanding pitching effort by Aaron Nola led the Phillies to a 3-0 win over the Houston Astros, clinching the club’s first playoff berth since 2011.

After Brandon Marsh caught Mauricio Dubon’s fly ball in center for the game’s final out, players jumped and cheered in jubilation before meeting at the mound where they hugged and bounced around some more.

The video board at Minute Maid Park displayed the team’s logo and the words: “Congratulations Philadelphia” as the Phillies celebrated.

A small but vocal group of Philadelphia fans congregated near the team’s dugout and chanted: “Let’s go Phillies,” in the bottom of the ninth inning.

The Phillies clinched at the same ballpark where they secured their last postseason trip on Sept. 14, 2011. That game was a 1-0 victory over the Astros highlighted by a complete game shutout by Hall of Famer Roy Halladay.

It’s been a seemingly interminable wait to return to the playoffs. The Phillies haven’t been back since their fifth consecutive National League East title, winning 102 games and falling in five games to the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2011 National League Division Series. (As of Sunday night, the Phillies were in line to face the Cardinals in a three-game Wild Card series in St. Louis this weekend.)

With the Seattle Mariners having clinched a playoff berth last week for the first time since 2001, ending what had been the longest in American pro sports history, the Phillies assumed the mantle of the longest postseason drought in baseball.

Nola wasn’t quite as good as Halladay, but he wasn’t far off. He retired the first 20 batters he faced, and the Phillies led from the first pitch of the game thanks to Schwarber’s leadoff home run.

Nola allowed his first base-runner on his 82nd pitch of the night, a clean single to left by Yordan Alvarez. He exited one batter later after allowing a single to David Hensley, but Jose Alvarado entered to end the threat.

Alvarado pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning, and Zach Eflin ended it with a clean ninth inning, a first bigleague save for a player acquired via trade for Jimmy Rollins in 2014.

Bryson Stott bashed a first-pitch home run to lead off the eighth for some insurance, followed by Schwarber’s second homer of the day. The Phillies nearly clinched before their game at Minute Maid Park even ended. They entered Monday with a magic number of 1 with three games to play and could’ve gotten across the line if the Milwaukee Brewers lost to Arizona.

The Diamondbacks, however, blew a 4-1 lead in the

bottom of the ninth and lost, 6-5, in 10 innings.

DAVID J. PHILLIP — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola is cheered as he walks off the mound in the seventh inning Monday night. Nola was perfect for 6.2innings as he got the Phillies going toward a playoff-clinching 3-0win over Houston Monday night for the team’s first playoff berth since 2011.