For the third season in a row, the Arizona Diamondbacks in mid-September are trying to position themselves to finish with an NL Wild Card playoff spot.
It’s been a roller coaster to find themselves still in the standings mix.
By taking an Aug. 1 loss to restart after a sell-off at the trade deadline, the D-backs fell to 51-59.
Their sixth loss in a row put them a season-high eight games under .500. They responded with a 9-3 stretch from there, with wild swings of six winning streaks of three or more games and three losing streaks of three or more games.
All in all, the Diamondbacks have been within five games of .500 one way or the other for all but nine games this season. Deep into September, they’re among a busy bunch of similarly average teams still in the hunt for the third NL Wild Card spot.
The New York Mets sit in that spot as of Friday, with the Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals also joining Arizona within striking range.
Diamondbacks standings in the NL Wild Card race
Team
Record
Games back from final playoff spot
1. Chicago Cubs
83-63
+7.5
2. San Diego Padres
80-67
+4.0
3. New York Mets
76-71
—
Cincinnati Reds
74-72
1.5
San Francisco Giants
74-72
1.5
Arizona Diamondbacks
73-74
3.0
St. Louis Cardinals
72-75
4.0
