Pirates Make Serious Progress in NL Wild Card Race
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates kept up their good performances following the All-Star break and showed that they're going to go as far as they can in 2026.
The Pirates got a big series win over the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field, taking two of three games, July 18-19, marking their first three games of the second half of the season.
Pittsburgh will feel hard done they didn't get the sweep, with the bullpen allowing five runs late in the 5-3 defeat in the second game of the doubleheader, but they will always take a road series victory against a team competing for their division title.
The Pirates now move closer to a spot in the postseason and have positioned themselves incredibly well after 100 games, 52-48 overall.
NL Wild Card Race After Guardians Series
Team | Record (%) | Wild Card GA/GB |
|---|---|---|
Chicago Cubs | 56-43 (.566) | +4.5 |
Philadelphia Phillies | 55-45 (.556) | +3.0 |
St. Louis Cardinals | 51-47 (.520) | -- |
Miami Marlins | 52-48 (.520) | -- |
Pittsburgh Pirates | 52-48 (.520) | -- |
Arizona Diamondbacks | 51-48 (.515) | 0.5 |
Washington Nationals | 50-50 (.500) | 2.0 |
San Diego Padres | 49-50 (.495) | 2.5 |
The Pirates are now tied for the third National League Wild Card spot, tied with the Miami Marlins at 52-48 and having the same winning percentage as the St. Louis Cardinals.
Both the Cardinals and Marlins have the season tie-breakers over the Pirates, 2-5 and 1-2, respectively, so the Pirates would finish outside the playoffs if the season ended.
The Pirates have managed to get in this position as they have won five of their last six games and gone 9-5 in 14 games in July.
Pittsburgh has also gotten some luck, as the Marlins have lost their past six games, suffering back-to-back sweeps to the Guardians at home before the All-Star break and then, most recently, to the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field this weekend.
The Cardinals also lost two of three games to the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field this weekend, including an 8-7 loss on July 19, which came after they led 7-0 through five innings.
Arizona has now gotten within a half game and is right next to the Pirates, making for a four-way race for the last wild card spot.
The last two teams fighting for a spot are the Washington Nationals, who took two out of three games against the Athletics on the road and are two games back, and the San Diego Padres, who lost two of three games against the Kansas City Royals away.
Both the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies moved up in the wild card standings, with the Cubs 4.5 games ahead and the Phillies three games ahead of the rest of the pack.
Pirates Continue Rough Stretch in July
The Pirates have faced five teams in July who are all in contention for the postseason and face three more of them in the next three series.
Pittsburgh travels to face the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in their next series, July 20-22, then hosts the Cubs, July 24-26, and the Diamondbacks, July 27-29, for a six-game homestand at PNC Park.
All three of these series are crucial for the Pirates in not just staying in the NL Wild Card race, but also taking advantage of other teams not playing as well, which they've done so far this month.
The Pirates have shown they can compete amongst the best in baseball, but they'll have to keep doing that to make their first postseason since 2015.
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Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.