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MLB Postseason Wrap: Giants Continue Trending Downward at Mile High

By Jason Burke

Sep 5, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; San Francisco Giants right fielder Hunter Pence (8) comes out of the dugout during the seventh inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. The Rockies defeated the Giants 6-0. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 5, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; San Francisco Giants right fielder Hunter Pence (8) comes out of the dugout during the seventh inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. The Rockies defeated the Giants 6-0. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /
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Sep 5, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter (13) and starting pitcher Adam Wainwright (50) celebrate after scoring runs against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the second inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 5, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter (13) and starting pitcher Adam Wainwright (50) celebrate after scoring runs against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the second inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /

NL Wild Card

With the Giants loss and the Cardinals 12-6 drubbing of Pittsburgh, St. Louis finds themselves half a game out of the first wild card spot. Adam Wainwright helped his own cause by going 2-for-3 with three RBI and a run scored. The Pirates loss is their seventh in a row, taking them one game below .500.

The New York Mets continued their hot play of late by blanking the Reds 5-0 to record their third win in a row and remain a game behind the Cardinals for the second wild card spot, but gained a game on the Giants. Either of the teams ahead of the Mets has to drop out of their spot for New York to make the playoffs, so a loss by either St. Louis or San Francisco at this point is good news.

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The Miami Marlins lost their fourth in a row, and have dropped nine of ten, going from legitimate playoff contenders to just hanging around due to the poor play of the Pirates and Giants ahead of them. Over their last ten, Miami has averaged just 2.6 runs per game. Christian Yelich has been doing most of the heavy lifting for the Marlins, driving in 40 runs since the break heading into Monday’s game, second only to Nolan Arenado‘s 47.

Playoff Odds:

The Cubs and Nationals are locks to make the playoffs at this point, so they’ll be left off of this, and subsequent lists.

The Giants are still hanging around with the best chance of making the playoffs according to FanGraphs, sitting at 79.4 percent at the moment, while the Cardinals (62.8%), Mets (51.1%), Marlins (1.7%), Pirates (5.2%) and Rockies (0.8%) are all still mathematically alive.

Elimination Number

The elimination number is much like a magic number, in that it combines one team’s wins with another team’s losses to come up with a number that determines how many games until one team has clinched. While magic numbers often provide good news for a team, elimination numbers spell doom. With magic numbers, one team clinches a playoff spot, meaning that the team that had been chasing them has seen their elimination number dwindle down to zero.

The Braves, Brewers and Reds have all been eliminated from winning their respective divisions (no surprises there), while San Diego (6), Arizona (7), Pittsburgh (6) and Philadelphia (7) are still technically alive in their divisions.

Everyone is still mathematically alive in the wild card race, with Atlanta (54-84) currently sitting closest to being booted with an elimination number of 7.

Next: Same Thing, Just American League

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