As we move into the month of August, the NL Wild Card standings are beginning to tighten up.

Seven teams are currently in the mix for three postseason spots, including the San Francisco Giants (58-57), who will enter play on Friday five games behind the New York Mets for the final Wild Card slot.

With 47 games remaining on the regular season schedule for San Francisco, the time is now to make a move that will assert itself in the mix before the calendar turns to September, where the stakes get really high.

Let’s take a look at the current NL Wild Card standings as we move well into the month of August:

NL Wild Card Standings

ESPN

The Chicago Cubs have fallen out of the NL Central lead due to the surging Milwaukee Brewers, but still maintain a multiple-game cushion atop the NL Wild Card standings.

San Francisco’s NL West rivals, the San Diego Padres, are one game ahead of the Mets, who hold the final postseason spot with a three-game lead over the Cincinnati Reds.

If the Giants want to play baseball in October, they will need to leapfrog at least two teams in the NL Wild Card standings, while also remaining ahead of teams like the red-hot Miami Marlins. To do so, they will need to take advantage of an upcoming schedule that should lean in their favor.

According to Tankathon, San Francisco has the seventh-easiest remaining strength of schedule in Major League Baseball, including the fourth-easiest in the National League.

Teams ahead of them, like the Reds (hardest remaining schedule in MLB) and Mets (seventh-hardest), have their work cut out for them over the coming weeks, giving the Giants a window to strike–but they have to take advantage.

San Francisco will also have seven opportunities to face the Padres, which will all take place over the next two weeks (three games in SF, four games in SD), which could swing the NL Wild Card standings on its axis.

Current Playoff Odds

Key Remaining Series for SF

August 11-13: vs. San Diego (3 games)
August 18-21: @ San Diego (4 games)
August 26-28: vs. Chicago Cubs (3 games)

More MLB & SF Giants content from Sactown Sports

Dominic Smith’s go-ahead RBI double in the ninth inning propelled the San Francisco Giants to a 4-2 victory over the host Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday afternoon.

Smith’s double followed a one-out double by Jung Hoo Lee off reliever Dennis Santana (3-4), and led to the Giants’ second consecutive victory over the Pirates, who have lost four of their past six.

Patrick Bailey had two hits, and his second drove in an insurance run in the ninth, scoring Smith from second.

Randy Rodriguez pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up his third save and second since the All-Star reliever transitioned to the closer role for San Francisco following the trade deadline.

The San Francisco Giants trailed 2-1 in the top of the eighth before loading the bases on a single by Bailey, a walk Isaac Mattson issued to Rafael Devers, and a single by Willy Adames.

Bailey then scored on a sacrifice fly by Matt Chapman to tie the game.

The Pirates lost for only the fourth time this season in 41 games in which they led after seven innings.

The San Francisco Giants’ comeback picked up starter Robbie Ray after a solid start in which he allowed two runs on six hits and two walks and struck out eight over six innings.

Giants score two in the ninth to surge past Pirates

When is the next San Francisco Giants game?

Friday, August 8th – Sunday, August 10th – vs. Washington Nationals
Monday, August 11th – Wednesday, August 13th – vs. San Diego Padres
Friday, August 15th – Sunday, August 17th – vs. Tampa Bay Rays
Monday, August 18th – Thursday, August 21st – @ San Diego Padres
Friday, August 22nd – Sunday, August 24th – @ Milwaukee Brewers

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