Phillies Host Brewers Tuesday With Playoff Spot Within Reach

Philadelphia opens a home series against Milwaukee with a magic number of three to clinch an NL playoff berth.

The Philadelphia Phillies begin a three-game home series against the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park, with first pitch set for 6:40 p.m. ET. Zack Wheeler (13-5, 2.99 ERA) gets the start for Philadelphia, while Milwaukee counters with right-hander Dustin May (7-9, 4.61 ERA).

The game will be televised on NBCSP, with radio coverage on 94WIP and WDEL 101.7 FM/1150 AM. Viewers in the Philadelphia market can stream the broadcast through nbcsportsphiladelphia.com and the NBC Sports Philadelphia app, and NBCSP is also carried on FuboTV, Hulu, Peacock and YouTube TV. The game is additionally available via PHILLIES.TV for streaming subscribers, and radio feeds can be heard through MLB Audio.

At 86-70, the Phillies currently occupy the third National League wild-card spot, four games ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks and one game behind both the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres, who sit at 87-69. Philadelphia's magic number to secure a playoff berth is three, meaning the earliest it could clinch is Sept. 23.

Tiebreakers are decided by head-to-head records. The Cubs hold the edge over the Phillies after winning the season series 6-1, while Philadelphia beat San Diego 6-0 and would win that tiebreaker. In a three-way tie, the Cubs would take the top wild-card seed, the Phillies the second and the Padres the third.

With the top wild-card position, the Phillies would host the second wild-card team at Citizens Bank Park; otherwise they would open the playoffs on the road. Philadelphia is currently projected to meet Atlanta in a three-game wild-card series beginning Sept. 29.