WASHINGTON — Most of the Phillies were already gone from the clubhouse to catch the team bus. But just in case of any stragglers, Kyle Schwarber’s voice rose by an octave.

“It’s going to be a grind,” he said here the other night. “It’s not like it’s guaranteed. There’s no ifs, ands, or buts about it. We have to go out, and we have to win ballgames.”

Even when it should be a walk in the park — or lots of walks in Nationals Park — it isn’t. Not for these Phillies. Not with 10 games left and a playoff spot still to be clinched.

Case in point: Wednesday night. The Phillies knocked a rookie opener from the game after six batters. They worked seven walks through four innings, including four in the first — and 13 in all, a season high.

And yet they ground out a workmanlike 3-0 victory over the Nationals behind seven dazzling innings from old reliable Zack Wheeler, once again the most effective and healthiest of the Phillies’ Big Three starters.

OK, the nightly check of the playoff race:

— The Phillies (84-68) temporarily pulled into a tie for the top National League wild card with the Cubs (84-68), pending the outcome of their home game against the Braves. The Phillies and Cubs were 1 1/2 games clear of the Padres (82-69), pending their result in Colorado, for the last wild card.

— With any combination of seven wins or Diamondbacks losses, the Phillies will clinch a wild card.

— Chicago, which holds a tiebreaker over the Phillies, is off Thursday. The Phillies will begin a four-game series in New York against the out-of-contention Mets, who have played better after a brutal first half.

Got all that? Good.

The Phillies are struggling to reach base at last month’s majors-leading clip. But even they couldn’t avoid taking what the Nationals gave them in the first inning, chiefly enough walks to score twice.

And Wheeler took it from there.

One day after Jesús Luzardo went on the injured list with an inflamed left shoulder and Cristopher Sánchez gave up five runs on eight hits in a loss, Wheeler was in command against the Nationals, who rank third in the majors in runs despite being headed for their seventh consecutive losing season.

Mixing his splitter and cutter with his fastball, Wheeler held the Nationals to four hits, three singles. And after giving up CJ Abrams’ leadoff double over center fielder Justin Crawford’s head in the fourth inning, he got a groundout, strikeout and fly out to stop the threat.

Luis Arraez doubled in Bryce Harper for insurance in the seventh inning before interim manager Don Mattingly put the lead to the unsteady hands of the bullpen. But lefty José Alvarado sidestepped a one-out walk and got the game to Jhoan Duran by getting dangerous James Wood to line out and Daylen Lile to fly out.

Duran, who hadn’t pitched in five days since allowing a go-ahead homer to the Astros’ Cam Smith, went to a full count on the leadoff batter before striking him out. He popped up Abrams to win a seven-pitch duel before ending the game with a strikeout of José Tena.

The whole thing was imperfect. The Phillies left the bases loaded with one out in both the first inning and the ninth. They went 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position. They left 14 on base. Duran needed to pitch after the five-day breather; the Phillies shouldn’t have needed him in a save situation.

But the Phillies pocketed the win — only their second in six games — and moved on. They crossed Game 152 off the calendar in their quest to just get into the playoffs, reset everything, and take their chances.

It wasn’t easy, even though the Nationals tried to make it so. And it isn’t about to get easier, just as Schwarber warned.

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