MILWAUKEE -- The schedule makers did the Brewers a favor, manager Pat Murphy believes, by putting this late-season challenge in front of them.

His club clinched another National League Central title this week while taking two of three games from the Phillies, who Milwaukee could aim to meet in the NLCS if the postseason picture looks the same 10 days from now.

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Next up were the D-backs, a potential NL Wild Card Series foe for the second straight season, who have won the first two games of this four-game series including Friday’s 7-4 Brewers loss at American Family Field.

And after the final road trip of the regular season takes the Brewers to Pittsburgh next week, they return home to finish the regular season against the Mets, another potential Wild Card Series foe.

“It’s a great time to play these types of teams,” Murphy said. “The other types of teams are playing with this freedom just to get the season over, some of them are gelling, some of the young players are coming into their own and they’re in a really good spot. They don’t feel the pressure, the ‘have to.’ It’s better to play these teams where every game is meaningful, I think.”

What are the most important takeaways from these games against potential October foes?

“You might find out a little about what they’re trying to do at the plate or on the mound. You see their bullpen and stuff like that,” said Brewers starter Colin Rea, who took a no-decision in his return to the rotation on Friday. “But I don’t know if that matters a ton. Extra looks are good, but at the same time, it’s about executing and making pitches no matter how many times you see them.”

The regular-season games still matter for the Brewers, though their chances of sneaking up into one of the NL’s top two seeds are slimmer with each loss. The Brewers are four games back of the Phillies after Philly clinched its own postseason berth on Thursday, and four games back of the Dodgers.

Then there is the NL Wild Card race, which includes the Padres, D-backs, Mets and Braves fighting for three spots.

“The Diamondbacks are hanging on for their lives,” Murphy said coming into this series, “and they’ve got as good a mix as any team in baseball. If [his Brewers] think they can just show up today and everything’s going to be fine, that’s not it.”

Those were prescient words because after the Brewers took two of three from Arizona at Chase Field last weekend, the D-backs have proven tough the past two nights in Milwaukee. They built a 4-0 lead on Rea and reliever DL Hall by the middle of the fifth inning on Friday while Milwaukee hitters were blanked by Arizona’s Zac Gallen.

Then the Brewers came alive with a trio of home runs off Gallen in the bottom of the fifth. Joey Ortiz put Milwaukee on the board with a solo shot, and after rookie Jackson Chourio extended the inning by legging out a two-out infield single, William Contreras and Garrett Mitchell hit back-to-back home runs to make it a 4-4 game.

It marked the first time the Brewers had hit three home runs in the same inning since their first series at home last season, a win over Max Scherzer and the Mets on April 4, 2023.

But Arizona answered right back against Hall and fellow lefty Jared Koenig in the sixth. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. homered off Hall’s third pitch of the inning, and after consecutive one-out singles led to a call to Koenig, three walks -- one was intentional, another came with the bases loaded -- and a run-scoring groundout padded the D-backs’ lead.

It’s not what the Brewers want to see from a bullpen that could hold the keys to their success in October. In 15 games from Aug. 29-Sept. 13, Brewers relievers combined to allow five earned runs in 59 1/3 innings, good for a 0.76 ERA that led the Majors over that stretch. In seven games since, they have allowed 17 earned runs in 30 1/3 innings.

“They came back strong,” Murphy said. “Our middle relief, we didn't throw well. The walks are what killed us. You can give up a scratch hit or an infield hit or a four-hopper the other way that gets through, but when you walk two people, that's a [problem]. We don't do that too often, so I'm going to say that's an aberration."