Phillies' chances of clinching a wild card put on hold with 4-1 loss to Brewers

Lochlahn March, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Sep 23, 2026

Published in Baseball

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PHILADELPHIA — 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 at least another day.

Because following their 4-1 loss to the Brewers, the Phillies were unable to clinch a playoff spot on Wednesday, regardless of what happened on the other side of the country with the Diamondbacks or Padres. So their celebrations will have to wait.

When they departed Citizens Bank Park Wednesday evening, the Phillies’ magic number for a playoff spot remained at two.

They trailed the entire game. Starter Aaron Nola allowed four runs, though they came on just four hits.

Brice Turang and Christian Yelich both hit solo homers off Nola. 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.

That was all the damage Nola allowed, as he retired the final 10 Milwaukee hitters he faced. But it proved too much to overcome for the offense, despite the best efforts from Bryson Stott, who reached base three times with two doubles and a walk. Collectively, the Phillies finished 0 for 12 with runners in scoring position.

The Brewers, on the other hand, were 1 for 1.

The Phillies scratched across a 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.

On two occasions, Bryce Harper and Luis Arraez both came up representing the tying run, and twice, they had nothing to show for it. In the fifth, both Harper and Arraez flied out to strand Justin Crawford on third and Kyle Schwarber on first. In the seventh, both Harper and Arraez grounded out to strand Schwarber and Trea Turner. Each time, Harper swung at the first pitch.