NL Wild Card Standings heading into Pirates-Angels series provide real hope (but one obstacle)

For as ugly as August became for the Pittsburgh Pirates, the National League Wild Card race has somehow refused to completely leave them behind entering September. And this weekend might offer their best chance yet to make things interesting again.

The Pirates enter Friday’s series opener against the Los Angeles Angels at 69-72, five games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks for the final NL Wild Card spot. The San Diego Padres are a half-game behind Arizona, followed by the Miami Marlins at three games back, the St. Louis Cardinals at four and Pittsburgh at five.

Five games with only 21 remaining is still a major deficit. But take a look at this weekend’s schedule, and there is at least a somewhat realistic path for Pittsburgh to cut into it.

Pirates enter weekend series vs Angels that could make or break their postseason hopes

The Pirates get the 53-87 Angels at PNC Park. Los Angeles owns one of the worst records in baseball and sits last in the AL West. This is exactly the type of series Pittsburgh simply cannot afford to waste.

Meanwhile, several teams directly ahead of the Pirates face significantly tougher competition. Miami hosts the Cubs, who enter the weekend 79-62. Arizona travels to Houston to face an Astros team fighting for its own postseason position. And San Diego welcomes the Yankees, who are 80-60 and firmly established as one of the better teams in the American League.

If the Pirates can take care of the Angels while getting some help from Chicago, Houston and New York, the Wild Card standings could look considerably less daunting by Monday morning.

There is, however, one glaring problem. The Cardinals already sit a game ahead of Pittsburgh, and now they draw a three-game road series against a Colorado Rockies team that enters Friday at 54-86. Colorado has the worst record in the National League and has been out of the postseason picture for months.

So while the Pirates have an opportunity to gain ground on Arizona, San Diego and Miami, they may have a much harder time simply passing their own division rival.

Still, that shouldn’t change Pittsburgh’s objective. The Pirates spent August watching their postseason hopes nearly disappear. September has given them one final opening. With Konnor Griffin back, a favorable opponent coming to PNC Park and several Wild Card competitors facing difficult weekends, Pittsburgh finally has a scoreboard worth watching again.

Now the Pirates just have to make sure their own games are the easy part.

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