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PHILADELPHIA - J.T. Realmuto's Phillies now need just one more victory — or one more loss by the Milwaukee Brewers — to end Philadelphia's 11-year postseason drought.And the three-time All-Star catcher in his ninth season in the big leagues finally wants a taste of the playoffs himself, too.So of course Realmuto is keeping tabs on what the Brewers do, watching them on a cellphone in the clubhouse after helping Philadelphia beat the Washington Nationals 8-1 Sunday in a game shortened to six innings by a downpour."This is what you play for, obviously.

We play to win and get to the postseason and win the World Series. So the fact that I haven’t been able to do that yet is obviously extremely disappointing for me," said Realmuto, who threw out a would-be base stealer in the third inning and hit his 22nd homer of the season in the sixth.

"It’s fun to be in the race and fun to have a chance."Philadelphia and interim manager Rob Thomson took three of four from the worst-in-the-majors Nationals to improve to 86-73 after getting to town on a five-game losing streak. Combine Sunday's victory with a 4-3 loss by the Brewers (84-75) against the Miami Marlins in 12 innings, and the Phillies hold a two-game lead for the third NL wild-card berth with three games left.Kyle Schwarber and Bryson Stott provided three RBIs apiece for Philadelphia, and Zack Wheeler (12-7) threw five scoreless innings.Starting Monday, Philadelphia heads to Houston, and Milwaukee hosts Arizona.

The Phillies hold the tiebreaker over the Brewers if they finish with identical records."Relying on other people isn't really a plan," Thomson said about the notion that a loss by the Brewers would get his team into the playoffs. "We’ve got to get it done."Fans opened

Philadelphia Phillies Starting Monday Zack Wheeler Bryson Stott Rob Thomson