Phillies clinch wild-card berth with walk-off win; Brewers secure NL Central after Cubs gaffe

The Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers are playoff-bound.

They both got some help via a brutal Chicago Cubs error.

The Phillies entered Tuesday one win away from clinching a wild-card spot and got one in dramatic fashion, with a 3-2, extra-innings victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Johan Rojas knocked in Cristian Pache from second base with a walk-off single in the 10th inning to secure the win.

They'll enter the postseason as the No. 4 seed and have home-field advantage in the wild-card round after the Milwaukee Brewers clinched the NL Central later in the evening. The Brewers lost to the St. Louis Cardinals but clinched the division when the Atlanta Braves beat the Chicago Cubs 7-6 with a late rally.

The Cubs took a 6-0 lead against Atlanta but went into the ninth inning trailing after they allowed seven unanswered runs, including the game-tying and go-ahead runs on a Seiya Suzuki error in the bottom of the eighth.

Nonetheless, the Cubs remain alive in the wild-card race.

The Brewers, meanwhile, celebrated in style with announcer and franchise fixture Bob Uecker.

Phillies take early lead, then forced to extra innings

The Phillies were in position to win Tuesday's game in regulation after taking a 2-0 lead into the seventh inning.

Center fielder Brandon Marsh broke a scoreless tie in the sixth with a solo home run off of Pirates starter Mitch Keller. The shot to center field also ended a no-hitter.

Bryce Harper then scored Kyle Schwarber on a sacrifice fly to give the Phillies a 2-0 lead.

But the Pirates rallied to tie the game with a pair of home runs. Bryan Reynolds hit a solo homer off of starter Aaron Nola in the seventh inning. Then catcher Henry Davis hit another off of closer Craig Kimbrel in the eighth, setting up the extra-innings dramatics.

The Phillies clinch the No. 4 seed, thanks to their 88-69 record. The NL East title has been out of reach since early in the season, and the Braves claimed it Sept. 13.

The postseason berth is a second straight for the Phillies after they made a surprise run to the World Series last year as a wild-card team. They lost to the Houston Astros 4-2 in the World Series. That playoff berth was the franchise's first since 2011, which capped a run of five straight trips to the postseason that included a World Series victory in 2008.

The Brewers return to the postseason for the second time in three years after missing the playoffs in 2022.