After tonight’s too close for comfort 6-5 win over the Washington Nationals, the Phillies have just 25 regular season games remaining.

They are currently 79-58 and on pace to finish the season 93-69, which would be a one game improvement over last year.

They play six teams during that stretch. Of those 6 teams, 4 are hopelessly out of contention, or already mathematically eliminated (Houston, Nats, Mets and Brewers) and one is on life support (Braves). Only the Florida Marlins, whom the Phillies play 6 more times, are in the thick of the race.

6 games left against a team you have a six game on. That’s not good for those prone to heartburn or blown saves. The Marlins still have the Cardinals on the road, the Phillies and the Braves to contend with along with games against also-rans like the Reds, Nats and Mets.

The mission for the Phillies, should they choose to accept it, is to play playoff baseball over the next week against the likes of the Mets and Nationals at home. The Phils have a magic number of 19, meaning any number of Phillies wins and Marlins losses that total 19 clinches the division for the Phils.

So, the next 8 games for the Phils are 1 on the road vs. the Nats, 34 at home vs. the Mets and 3 at home vs. The Nats. The Phils should go no worse than 6-2 during that stretch. By the time the Phils land in South Florida to play the Marlins for 3 games over 2 days (Sept. 22 – 23), the Phils need to have maintained their 6 game lead in the division and reduced their magic number to roughly 10, assuming the Marlins maintain their current level of winning.

The is no good reason why the Phils shouldn’t be able to take care of business at home, especially in light of Raul Ibanez’s resurgence and the starting pitching’s consistent results over the last few weeks.

The Mets and Nats are going to be looking to play spoiler against their division rivals. But there is a reason why they are in the spoiler role and not the driver’s seat.

Just win, Phils.