Pirates Move Closer to NL Wild Card Spot
PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Pirates pulled off a comeback win against the Philadelphia Phillies Friday night, which helped them to move up the National League Wild Card Standings.
The Pirates faced numerous deficits throughout their matchup with the Phillies, including 3-0, 4-3 and 7-4, but a combination of great bullpen pitching, clutch hitting and base-running led to the comeback, ending in a 8-7 walk-off.
Pittsburgh have won five straight games, seven of their past eight games and eight of their past 11 contests, splitting a home series with the New York Mets, taking two games out of three against NL Central rival in the Milwaukee Brewers and then sweeping the MLB-worst Chicago White Sox, with the latter two series on the road.
NL Wild Card Standings (Team: Record + Games Ahead/Back +Win %)
No. 4 Atlanta Braves: 53-42/+4.5 games ahead/.558
No. 5 St. Louis Cardinals: 50-46/+1 games ahead/.521
No. 6 New York Mets: 49-47/level/.510
No. 7 Arizona Diamondbacks: 50-48/level/.510
No. 8 Pittsburgh Pirates: 49-48/0.5 games back/.500
No. 9 San Diego Padres: 50-50/1 game back/.500
No. 10 San Francisco Giants: 47-51/3 games back/.480
No. 11 Cincinnati Reds: 47-51/3 games back/.480
No. 12 Chicago Cubs: 47-52/3.5 games back//.475
The Pirates moved to just a half-game back out of the sixth and final wild card spot in the National League with the win.
The New York Mets dropped a 6-4 contest to the NL-worst Miami Marlins on the road, while the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field to go level with the Mets.
The Atlanta Braves and the St. Louis Cardinals face off in an important series this weekend, but the Friday night game was postponed due to rain.
The San Diego Padres lost to the Cleveland Guardians, San Francisco Giants lost to the Colorado Rockies and the Cincinnati Reds lost to the Washington Nationals, all on the road.
Pirates Schedule Ahead
The Pirates have an incredibly difficult schedule ahead, including two more games at home against the MLB-best record holders in the Philllies.
They host NL Central rival St. Louis Cardinals after the Phillies and then face the Diamondbacks and Houston Astros on the road. They will take on the Diamondbacks and Padres at home, then they'll head back out west to face the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Padre. They return home to face AL West leading Seattle Mariners, then travel to the reigning World Series Champions in the Texas Rangers.
Two series at home against the Washington Nationals and the Marlins at home in September will serve as the only teams that aren't in postseason contension the rest of the season.
While the schedule ahead is daunting, the Pirates have a great pitching staff that have played an important role in their recent winning ways.
This includes starters in rookies in All-Star Paul Skenes and Jared Jones, Mitch Keller and Bailey Falter, plus bullpen arms in David Bednar, Colin Holderman, Carmen Mlodzinski, Kyle Nicolas and Dennis Santana that all work together to make one of the best pitching staffs in the MLB.
If the Pirates can get some more offense going in the coming series, they have a chance to make a run at their first postseason since 2015.
DOMINIC CAMPBELL