Final Score: Royals 7, Phillies 4
KANSAS CITY — At a certain point, all the baseball cliches, true as they may be, ring hollow.
The Philadelphia Phillies reached that point a few weeks ago.
Yes, they did build up such a large cushion early in the season that they will almost certainly still make the playoffs in a system that sends six teams in each league to the postseason. Winning the NL East shouldn’t be taken for granted, though with how banged up the Atlanta Braves are, the Phillies remain the favorites to do that as well.