MILWAUKEE — Before the Brewers took the field on Wednesday, they had already locked up the National League Central.

A Cubs loss to Oakland that afternoon had brought Milwaukee’s magic number down to zero. Several Phillies exchanged hugs and handshakes of congratulations with old teammate Rhys Hoskins before batting practice.

They will have to wait a bit longer for their own celebrations, however. The Phillies had the opportunity to secure a postseason bid and take a step closer towards their own divisional title with a victory on Wednesday, but a walk-off single from Jake Bauers lifted the Brewers over the Phillies, 2-1.

With the game deadlocked at 1-1 in the bottom of the ninth, Carlos Estévez allowed a leadoff triple to Jackson Churio, who would come around to score on Bauers’ hit.

The Phillies’ offense squandered a bounceback outing for starting pitcher Aaron Nola by only mustering four hits and striking out 16 times. Their only run came via a solo shot from Alec Bohm.

Nola pitched seven complete innings, rebounding from his last two starts where he failed to get out of the fifth. He gave up a leadoff four-pitch walk to Brice Turang in the first inning, but settled in after that. He issued no further walks, and allowed just three hits.

Nola’s focus after his last outing had been eliminating “the big inning,” where the mistakes pile up and the opponent runs up the score. He was successful in that endeavor — even when Hoskins tied things up with a solo home run in the fifth inning, Nola bounced back quickly, and retired the next nine hitters. He finished with nine strikeouts, his most since a Sept. 1 start against Atlanta.

His final punch out of the game was against Hoskins, who had bested him in his first two plate appearances with a ground ruled double and the homer. Nola sat his old teammate down in three pitches, catching him looking at a fastball on the edge of the zone.

Orion Kerkering pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning to give the Phillies the opportunity to take the lead in the ninth, but Brewers closer Devin Williams struck out the side in order.

The Phillies’ magic number for a postseason bid remains one, while the magic number for the divisional title stays at four.

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