The cans of beer and bottles of champagne will remain unopened for now, and the protective plastic lining the ceiling of the Phillies clubhouse will have to stay rolled up for at least another day.
Because following their 4-1 loss to the Brewers on Wednesday, the Phillies were unable to clinch a playoff spot, regardless of what happened on the other side of the country with the Diamondbacks or Padres. So their celebrations will have to wait.
The Phillies’ magic number for a playoff spot remained at two after victories by the Diamondbacks and Padres later Wednesday night. They can clinch a spot in the postseason with a victory over the Brewers on Thursday and a loss by the Padres. The Diamondbacks defeated the Rockies earlier on Thursday.
“We know what we have to do. We have to go out there and keep playing,” said Kyle Schwarber. “Obviously we want to lock this thing down as soon as we can. But just wasn’t our night tonight, and got to move forward.”
They trailed the entire game. Starter Aaron Nola allowed four runs, though they came on just four hits.
Brice Turang and Christian Yelich hit solo homers. The Brewers added two more runs in the third inning, as a leadoff walk to nine-hole hitter David Hamilton came back to haunt Nola. Turang doubled, before a single from William Contreras got past a diving Bryson Stott to score two more.
“The Turang one, just left over the plate a little bit too much, and then the Yelich one didn’t really bite like I wanted it to, that cutter,” Nola said. “And Contreras capped the ball in the right spot, right there. Tough team, they battled me hard. They always do. Tough one tonight.”
That was all the damage Nola allowed, as he retired the final 10 Milwaukee hitters he faced and struck out eight over six innings. But it proved too much to overcome for the offense, despite the best efforts from Stott, who reached base three times with two doubles and a walk.
With Wednesday marking his final start of the regular season, Nola finished with a 3.03 ERA in the second half. The veteran right-hander’s resurgence — his first-half ERA was 5.75 — has been key for the Phillies.
“I know what I’m capable of, to make better pitches than I was in the first half,” Nola said. “Felt like I was giving up a lot of home runs, and I gave up a lot of home runs this year anyway, but felt like more solos in the second half, rather than the first.”
NL wild-card standings
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It would be hard to imagine the Nola from before the All-Star break making a postseason appearance, let alone starting a game. But his comeback has changed the calculus. Although the Phillies have not yet determined their rotation for a potential wild-card series, it’s possible Nola could take the ball for one of the three games.
Nola said the Phillies have not yet discussed their postseason plan with him, adding that it doesn’t matter. He intends to go about his routine as normal and ensure his body is ready for whatever he’s asked to do.
“Aaron’s been huge for us,” interim manager Don Mattingly said. “A lot of talk early, coming off last year into this year, and [he] struggled early. But what he’s been able to do for us, it’s turned that spot in the rotation to [where] you feel like he’s going to give you a good game every time out.”
The offense missed plenty of opportunities to pick Nola up. Collectively, the Phillies finished 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position. The Brewers, on the other hand, were 1-for-1.
“I think the biggest thing is, we gave ourselves some chances,” Mattingly said. “Just really weren’t able to to cash in on enough opportunities.”
The Phillies scratched across their only run in the second inning on a groundout from J.T. Realmuto that scored Alec Bohm from third. Though Realmuto picked up the RBI, the catcher’s slump stretched on, reaching a career-high 0-for-26 by the end of the night.
Twice, Bryce Harper and Luis Arraez each came up representing the tying run, and twice, they had nothing to show for it. In the fifth, Harper and Arraez flied out to strand Justin Crawford on third and Kyle Schwarber on first. In the seventh, Harper and Arraez grounded out to strand Schwarber and Trea Turner.
Both times, Harper swung at the first pitch. It’s become a trend of late for the right fielder, who has a 53.1% first-pitch swing rate in September, up from 42.5% in August.
“I really don’t worry about anything with Bryce,” Mattingly said before the game. “Honestly, he’s one of those guys that he’s going to be aggressive. We want him to be aggressive. … So yeah, we trust Bryce to do his thing.”
Out of the bullpen, Tanner Banks pitched two scoreless innings while Max Lazar delivered a scoreless ninth to give the offense one more chance. But Derek Hill, Turner, and Schwarber went down in order.
The Phillies will get another opportunity to shrink the magic number further — and perhaps even unfurl the plastic — in Thursday’s series finale against the Brewers, with right-hander Andrew Painter on the mound.
“Obviously we’re all frustrated, and we wanted to go out there and we wanted to get this done tonight, lock this thing up,” Schwarber said. “But we got to move on. We got a game tomorrow, and there’s an opportunity for us tomorrow.”
