The Phillies emerged from the weekend tied with the Giants at 61-51 for the top wild-card spot in the National League. What had been a compressed group of five teams has begun to spread out with the Phils and Giants three games ahead of the team in the third and final wild-card position, the Cubs.
Here is how the week began:
| Giants | 61-51 | +3 |
| Phillies | 61-51 | +3 |
| Cubs | 58-54 | -- |
| Reds | 59-55 | -- |
| Marlins | 58-55 | 0.5 |
| Diamondbacks | 57-56 | 1.5 |
| Padres | 55-57 | 3.0 |
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If the Phillies play well over the next two weeks they have a chance to catapult ahead of the Giants, who are about to begin their toughest stretch of the season spanning 28 games. Here is San Francisco's upcoming schedule:
• Monday-Wednesday on the road against the desperate Angels
• Friday-Sunday at home against the first-place Rangers
• 6 games next week against the Rays and Braves, who own two of the top three records in the majors
Philadelphia Phillies
• 6 games the following week against the Phillies and Braves
• 10 straight against the Reds, Padres and Cubs, who will also be fighting for wild-card position
The top wild-card spot matters because it's the only one of the three that comes with home-field advantage in the first round. Granted, three of the four wild-card series last year went to the road team, but you'd better believe the Phillies would rather play a Best-of-Three playoff series at Citizens Bank Park than across the country.
During San Francisco's upcoming gauntlet of games, the Phillies have 10 against the last-place Nationals and Cardinals, seven at home. They've gone just 3-3 against Washington so far and haven't played St. Louis.
The Cubs have been the hottest team in this race of late, winning 15 of 19 during another huge offensive period. They swung the bats well in April with a string of double-digit run games, then regression hit, but they've averaged 7.4 runs over their last 19 games.
They'll spend the week on the road — three at Citi Field against the Mets, three in Toronto. Then comes a soft two-week period with 12 straight games against the White Sox, Royals, Tigers and Pirates. Don't be surprised if the Cubs also close their gap on the Giants.
As for the teams currently below the line ...
The Marlins are 5-16 since the All-Star break. They opened the second half with eight consecutive losses and have dropped six of their last seven. They aren't hitting, and they've lost four of seven one-run games after going 21-6 in the first half.
The Fish are in Cincinnati for three games Monday through Wednesday, a crucial series for both teams. The Reds have lost six in a row. It's been a streaky month for them as they opened the second half with a five-game losing streak, then a five-game winning streak. Rookie sensation Elly De La Cruz has come back to earth, hitting .187/.253/.385 with 40 strikeouts in his last 99 plate appearances. Fellow rookie Andrew Abbott has gotten hit around in his last two times out after going 6-2 with a 1.90 ERA in his first 10 starts.
The Diamondbacks are the coldest team of the bunch, 5-17 since the break. A team that was carried by offense for the season's first three months has scored just eight runs over the last six games, all losses. Arizona has a five-game week at home: two with the Dodgers, three with the Padres.