NL Wild Card standings update: SF Giants slide as others make their move

Sep 5, 2023, 9:04 AM

SAN DIEGO, CA - SEPTEMBER 02: Wade Meckler #53 of the San Francisco Giants jumps but can't make the...

(Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images)

Sacramento Kings Beat Writer

September has not been kind to the San Francisco Giants.

Four days into the new month, the Giants have lost four straight games against the San Diego Padres (three) and Chicago Cubs (one) as they continue to struggle at a very unideal time.

Both Chicago and San Diego are in the hunt for a National League Wild Card spot, with the Padres’ successful weekend against San Francisco keeping them alive in the race while the Cubs pad their lead in the second Wild Card position.

After losing four games in a row and five of six, the Giants (70-68) have fallen one game behind the third and final spot with 24 games remaining in the 2023 regular season.

Kapler explains how the Giants are working to improve with runners in scoring position ⤵ pic.twitter.com/nSUicoo0hE

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) September 4, 2023

Not only has San Francisco struggled to pick up a win in September, but they are also failing to make an impact where it matters most: the scoreboard.

The Giants have scored one run over their past three games, including two straight games–Sunday in San Diego and Monday in Chicago–without pushing a single run across the board.

San Francisco’s offensive woes couldn’t have reared its ugly head at a more inopportune time as the Giants battle six other teams for three spots in the NL Wild Card standings.

After letting the Padres take three of four at Petco Park over the weekend, the race has only gotten more expansive as teams like Arizona, Cincinnati, Miami, and San Diego moved closer to–or into–a Wild Card spot while San Francisco slid to the outside.

Here’s the breakdown of how many games the Giants have against teams around them in the Wild Card race as we enter the final weeks of the regular season:

3 vs. San Diego
2 @ Chicago
2 @ Arizona

What is the current state of the NL Wild Card standings?

As former New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra used to say, “It’s getting late early out here.”

The Giants, who have averaged just one run per game over their past four contests while batting .160 as a team, will need to start playing with a sense of urgency over these final weeks of the season if they want to play past their season finale on October 1st.

With a more ideal slate of games approaching, including seven of 10 against the Colorado Rockies, San Francisco must take advantage of those sub-.500 matchups before they face the Wild Card hopeful D-Backs and powerhouse Los Angeles Dodgers from September 19-24.

As of now, it isn’t time to panic. With 24 games remaining, there is plenty of time for the Giants to close that one-game gap between themselves and a playoff spot–but that won’t be the case if the offensive struggles continue.