CHICAGO - Back in early August, when the Giants had taken the finale with the Marlins and won their first series of the second half, a few players and coaches gathered around a clubhouse TV to watch a couple innings of a Dodgers game. The Giants held a one-game lead in the National League West at the time, but less than a week later, the Dodgers would pass them.
The Dodgers spent the second half of the month in first place, relegating the Giants to the top of the Wild Card standings. As they kick off a huge four-game series with the World Series favorite Cubs, the Giants are 1 1/2 games behind the Dodgers and two games clear of the Cardinals atop the Wild Card standings.
They are firmly entrenched in two races, one for the division and the other for the Wild Card game, and at the start of a three-city trip and final full month of the season, this is as good a time as any to look at how this all may shape up.
You can begin with this premise: The Giants simply need to play better. They had a 3-2 homestand, but given the opponents - the Braves and Diamondbacks - that was probably a time to make up more ground. Even with a slight uptick in play recently, the Giants are just 15-27 in the second half.
Since the second Wild Card spot was added, the minimum just to get in the winner-take-all game has been 88 wins. Three of the eight Wild Card teams won 88 games, including the 2014 Giants, who hit that mark and let Madison Bumgarner do the rest. The others won 98, 97, 94, 94 and 90, which likely isn't going to happen this season given the current state of the race.
So, set 88 as a soft goal. The Giants would need to go 16-14 to get there, which is not that high a bar, but ... this team is still looking for its first three-game winning streak of the second half.
San Francisco Giants
The NL West champion has won at least 92 games every year since 2010, which would be another step up in play. The Giants believe they're good enough to get there but they haven't often shown that over the past six weeks, which is why they're now looking at two separate races. Here's a look at the home stretch for the teams chasing the Giants, and the team they're chasing:
Marlins (67-66): They are starting to fade, and you can't blame them. Giancarlo Stanton (groin) is one of six players on the DL and he's unlikely to return before the final week of the season. They're 3 1/2 out of the second Wild Card spot and have the Indians and Dodgers on the schedule in early September. It's hard to see how they stay alive much longer.
Pirates (67-64): Since sweeping the Giants, they've gone 5-8. But this is a team that's found a way into the Wild Card game three straight years, so the Pirates are always on the radar. If there's a run in them, it'll have to come early in September. Starting Friday, 18 of their next 21 games are against the Brewers, Phillies and Reds. That's helpful.
Mets (69-64): The defending league champs are in a bad place health-wise. Matt Harvey and Steven Matz are on the DL and Jacob deGrom is battling fatigue. Still, they have Yoenis Cespedes and Noah Syndergaard and they've won nine of their last 11 games. If those two can keep the Mets in line until they get healthier, this team could come along the outside over the final two weeks.
New York has six games against the Nationals in September, but the rest of the schedule is littered with cupcakes: three-game sets with the Reds and Twins, six games with the Braves, and 10 against the Phillies. Seven of the final 10 games are against the Phillies and that alone means you can't write the Mets off, no matter how rough the first five months have been.
Cardinals (70-62): They've received virtually no national attention this season, and yet here they are, second in the Wild Card despite having 12 - seriously, 12! - players on the disabled list. This is what they do year after year, and if the Giants aren't careful on this road trip, they'll lose their current hold on the top Wild Card spot. The Cardinals open September in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh and then host the Brewers for four.
Dodgers (74-59) and Giants (72-60): They face each other six more times, including at AT&T Park the final weekend of the regular season. Neither team has shown an inclination to pull away in the West, so that series could have everything on the line. Until then, the Dodgers have a slight edge. They play 17 more games against the bottom three in the West, 10 of which are at home. The Giants have 16 left against those three, but only six at home. The Giants also have four with the Cubs (starting tonight) and four with the Cardinals, while the Dodgers round it out with three in Miami and three at Yankee Stadium.
