Brewers Lose Division But Stay Alive In Playoff Race With Phillies’ Loss

It’s officially Wild Card or Bust for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Their quest to repeat as NL Central champions was snuffed out with a 6-2 loss Tuesday night the St. Louis Cardinals, capping off a second-half surge that conincided perfectly a two-month slump by a Brewers team that led the division by four games at the end of July.

“We just didn’t really well enough all season to deserve winning the division,” Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich said. “You get what you deserve in sports a lot and we just, for whatever reason, weren’t able to put it all together.”

The Brewers’ hopes of making the playoffs for a franchise-record fifth consecutive season, however, are still alive.

Despite the loss, the Brewers didn’t lose any ground in the Wild Card hunt thanks to the Chicago Cubs, whose 2-1 victory over the Phillies at Wrigley Field allowed Milwaukee to remain 1 1/2 games back of Philadelphia for the third and final playoff spot with eight games remaining, all of which are at home.

“It helps that they lost,” Counsell said. “It puts us in the same position going into tomorrow.”

Here’s how the rest of the NL Wild Card contenders fared Tuesday night:

Padres 4, Dodgers 3 (10 innings)

After blowing a 3-2 lead in the ninth inning, San Diego scored the winning run in the 10th on a bases-load walk off Craig Kimbrel and now holds a 2 1/2-game lead over the Phillies for the second NL Wild Card spot.

The Padres have won three in a row and eight of their last 11 games.

Up next: Thursday, at Dodgers

Probables: Padres — RHP Joe Musgrove (10-7, 3.12 ERA); Dodgers — LHP Julio Urias (17-7, 2.25).

Cubs 2, Phillies 1

With Milwaukee’s loss to the Cardinals, Philadelphia maintained it’s 1 1/2-game lead over the Brewers for the third and final NL playoff berth despite falling to the Cubs in the opener of a three-game series at Wrigley Field.

Christopher Morel’s third-inning home run gave Chicago an early lead and marked the only run allowed by Philadelphia starter Zach Wheeler.

Bryce Harper evened the score in the sixth with an RBI double but the Cubs retook the lead in the seventh on a run-scoring double by Yan Gomes.

The Phillies (83-70) have dropped three in a row and eight of their last 11.

Up next: At Cubs, Thursday, 1:20 p.m. (CT)

Probables: Phillies — RHP Aaron Nola (10-12, 3.28 ERA); Cubs — RHP Hayden Wesneski (2-1, 2.45).

NL Wild Card Standings

(Through games Sept. 27)

1. x-Mets 97-58 (+13)
2. Padres 86-68 (+2.5)
3. Phillies 83-70 (—)
4. Brewers 82-72 (-1.5)

x – Clinched playoff berth