PHILADELPHIA — There was a sense of nervous anticipation around the Phillies Wednesday, seemingly an atmosphere of needing to finish the job at hand. The immediate job was to win a series rubber game against the Chicago Cubs, and the urgency of taking one more step toward clinching a bye from the wild card round of the pending playoffs. “When you have an opportunity to keep playing meaningful baseball games, all the way to the end, knowing that you still have a challenge ahead of you, I think that can only be beneficial,” Kyle Schwarber said. “For us, it’s just that we have to keep going.” They went all the way on Wednesday night the way they went during the season – with a relentlessness that forged a lead, negated a Cubs comeback and eventually settled into a 9-6 Phillies victory. And just as that was wrapping up, the Milwaukee Brewers were suffering a bad 2-1 loss to the Pirates at PNC Park, which meant the Phillies had clinched at least the second seed in the National League playoffs and the first-round bye that comes with it. As a result, the upcoming season-ending three-game series in Washington will feature plenty of rest for the regulars. “It’s huge,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “Get these guys some rest and now we can sort of plan out our pitching for the weekend, and make sure our stars — I mean, they’re going to have to start, Ranger (Suarez), (Zack) Wheeler and (Aaron) Nola — but we can pull them back a little bit. “We’ve got to be careful, we have to plan it out so that we’re not using our entire bullpen. But we’ll get there and pull them back a little bit.” Beforehand, Schwarber had warned the Phillies had to keep fighting for that bye to avoid a wild card, because, “you don’t want to play in that series. … Anything can happen.” What’s happened the last two years for the Phillies has been pretty good. A surprise team in 2022, they came back in the first wild card game for a win, and wound up sweeping the Cardinals in two straight. After that they took down the Atlanta Braves in the divisional round, then the San Diego Padres in the National League Championship Series before bowing to the Houston Astros that year in the World Series. Thus established in 2023 but finishing 14 games behind the Braves in the NL East, the Phillies blew away the Miami Marlins in the wild card, then again upset the Braves in the divisional round. They had the Arizona Diamondbacks on the ropes in the NLCS, but promptly lost back to back games at home to lose the series in seven.Now for the final weekend, the only real thing left to play for is the No. 1 seed in the National League, against both the Los Angeles Dodgers and hard-charging San Diego Padres, who entered play Wednesday having won nine of 10 games. So there is still plenty to play for. “We need a win,” Thomson had said before the Fan Appreciation Night game. “It would be great for our fanbase; 3.3 million (fans) came in here this year, so that’s pretty strong. “As I’ve said all along, and I know it’s a cliche, but I truly believe this is the best fanbase in all of sports.” • • • While the long season is coming to a head for the Phillies, things are just beginning for pitcher Eiberson Castellano and outfielder Justin Crawford. They were respectively named as recipients of the Paul Owens Award, given annually to the organization’s top pitcher and position player. Right-hander Castellano, 23, went 6-5 with a 3.99 ERA with Class A Jersey Shore and Double-A Reading this season. His strikeout to walk ratio was especially impressive at 136-29. “It’s something big for me,” he said Wednesday of the award while paying what he said was his first visit to an MLB ballpark. “It’s something new to me. My first year as a starter in this organization, and being able to do that for the whole year was something special.” Crawford is used to accolades. Only 20, he was the Phillies’ first-round draft pick (No. 17 overall) in 2022, and is the son of longtime major league player Carl Crawford. The young outfielder also spent time at High-A Jersey Shore and Reading this season, being promoted to the Double-A ranks on July 12. Over the course of the season he hit .313 with an .804 OPS with nine home runs, 25 doubles and 61 RBIs, along with 42 stolen bases. He led off for the National League in the All-Star Futures Game. Of receiving the top honor for a minor league position player here, he said, “I was really excited. That was one of my goals this year, to get up there and being able to do that; to have this success.“I want to be here next year,” Crawford added. “Obviously I have to come out ready to play, ready to go, and get stronger. And just try to get better at everything, because with everything there’s room for improvement.” • • • NOTES >> Alec Bohm did not play on Wednesday, one day after firing his bat into the ground after making an out in a 10-4 loss to Chicago. “Just giving him a day (off),” Thomson said. “He looked a little frustrated last night. It’s just a combination of things, he probably wants to get to 100 RBIs, that’s a goal for him. And he’s probably not swinging as well as he’d like to be right now. So maybe a day off will help him a little bit.” … Bryce Harper again exhibited pain in his right elbow after a hard swing. “He gets these stingers every once in a while (with) a hyperextension of the elbow,” Thomson repeated.