Bryson Stott delivered the tiebreaking hit in the eighth inning to guide the Philadelphia Phillies to a 6-4 victory over the visiting Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday.
Brandon Marsh homered and knocked in three runs for Philadelphia (87-70), which lowered its magic number to two to clinch a postseason berth. Zack Wheeler ended up with a no-decision after striking out 11 while giving up three runs and five hits in 5 2/3 innings.
Wheeler struck out the first seven batters he faced, setting a Phillies record for consecutive strikeouts to begin a game. His first-inning strikeout of Brice Turang was the 2,000th of his career.
Milwaukee (98-59), which entered the night two games ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the top record in the majors, lost for just the third time in its last 13 games. William Contreras knocked in three runs for the Brewers.
Despite the loss, the Brewers clinched a first-round bye and home-field advantage in the NLDS after the Atlanta Braves (92-65) lost to the Cincinnati Reds.
Working his fifth inning of relief for Milwaukee, Colton Gordon (0-1) notched the first two outs of the eighth inning before allowing singles to Luis Arraez and Alec Bohm. Stott then lined a slider into center field to score Arraez. Center fielder Garrett Mitchell’s throw toward third hit Bohm and caromed away, allowing Bohm to score for a 5-3 lead.
Marsh followed with an RBI double to make it 6-3.
The Brewers got a run against Jhoan Duran in the ninth, but the Phillies’ closer slammed the door for his 33rd save.
Philadelphia took an early lead on Marsh’s two-run homer off Dustin May in the second inning. The hosts tacked on another run against Kyle Harrison in the third as Bohm delivered a two-out RBI double.
Meanwhile, Wheeler did not allow a hit until Garrett Mitchell reached on an infield single to open the fourth. Brice Turang singled two batters later and Contreras supplied a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1.
After an uneventful fifth inning, Milwaukee tied it against Wheeler in the sixth. David Hamilton singled to open the frame and Jackson Chourio walked with one out. A double steal put two runners in scoring position for Contreras, whose base hit drew the visitors even at 3-3.
Tim Mayza got Philadelphia out of the sixth before Alex McFarlane retired all five batters he faced. Jose Alvarado (5-3) recorded the final out of the eighth, setting the stage for the late heroics.
–Field Level Media
