NEW YORK -- If the Phillies could not clinch the National League East last week in Milwaukee, then certainly they could clinch before the end of the weekend in New York.

Except, they did not.

The Phils lost three of four to the Mets at Citi Field, including Sunday night’s 2-1 loss. It finished a disappointing 2-5 road trip against two teams they could face again in the postseason. Philadelphia needs to win just one game to clinch its first division title in 13 years. It could happen as early as Monday night against the Cubs at Citizens Bank Park.

“It’s disappointing, but at the end of the day we can go home and win this thing in front of our own fans,” Phillies ace Zack Wheeler said. “Start playing a little better once we get home and just try to win these next couple series and just go into the playoffs hot. Turn the page. It’s not the end of the world.”

Sunday’s loss not only postponed the Phillies’ champagne and beer celebration, but it dropped them a game behind the Dodgers (93-63) for the best record in the NL. The Phillies (92-64) have a three-game lead over the Brewers (89-67) for the No. 2 seed, which is essentially a four-game lead because they own the season tiebreaker. Philadelphia hopes to finish tied with or better than Los Angeles -- the Phils also own a tiebreaker against the Dodgers -- to give it home-field advantage through the NL Championship Series.

The Phillies took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Alec Bohm hit a two-out single to right to score Trea Turner. They got the bases loaded, but J.T. Realmuto lined out to center to end the inning.

Kyle Schwarber crushed a ball to center in the second, but it fell just short of the wall on the warning track.

“I thought I hit it pretty good,” Schwarber said. “It just didn’t get out.”

The Mets took the lead in the sixth, when Brandon Nimmo hit a first-pitch fastball just over the right-field fence for a leadoff home run.

“I knew the pitch was a good pitch to hit,” Wheeler said. “Once he hit it, I knew he hit it well. I saw Nick [Castellanos] going back, and I thought it might have a chance. It was just a bad pitch by me and hit well by him."

The Phillies had won 34 consecutive games this season when a starter pitched seven innings or more. It was the second-longest streak in MLB history. But the Phils have lost their past two such games -- Wednesday in Milwaukee and Sunday in New York.

Wheeler allowed two runs in seven-plus innings to fall to 16-7 with a 2.56 ERA.

The Phils’ offense scuffled on this trip. It struck out 81 times, including 16 in consecutive games for the first time in franchise history in Milwaukee. It chased more pitches out of the zone than normal, which is noteworthy because chasing contributed to the Phillies losing in seven games to Arizona in last year’s NLCS.

The Phillies chased 29.9 percent of pitches out of the zone through Sept. 15. That jumped to 35.2 percent on this road trip.

They swung at 22 pitches out of the zone Sunday.

Their season high is 43. The next two highest came on this trip: 36 on Friday and 35 on Wednesday.

There were scouts from several postseason contenders at Citi Field all week. No doubt they noticed.

“We’ve had a lot of experiences, and we’ve experienced a lot of really good pitching,” Schwarber said. “Obviously, throughout this year and postseasons past where we’ve faced really good staffs. For us, it’s going to come down to finding a way to get guys on base and manufacturing those runs to get in. It’s not always going to be a home run. A run’s a run. For us, that’s our focus. Try to find a way on base, and the guy behind is going to try to find a way to get you in.”

Bryson Stott walked with one out in the ninth. He stole second, then stole third as Realmuto struck out. Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez’s throw hit third base, but it deflected straight into the air and kept Stott there.

The Mets caught a break. The Phillies couldn’t make enough of their own this weekend. It sent them home short of the win they seemed certain to get before they left Philly last week.

“We’re going to have to find a way,” Schwarber said. “You can’t keep thinking about those last at-bats that are going to weigh you down. You’ve got to think about the next one when you could come up in a really good situation.”