After all the games finished on Wednesday night, this is how we stood...

Ok, I'll admit it looks pretty bleak, but the magic number in both races is still bigger than zero (for an explanation of magic numbers, go here). That means that no matter how slim the clance of a playoff appearance, there is still a chance. Due to the Fish having Thursday off, we can't be eliminated any earlier than September 26th in the NL East and the 27th in the wild card. That's assuming we lose our next 3 games. If we win, we last longer.  Here's how ours and our competition's schedule looks:

Marlins (82-71):           3 vs. Mets (10-5 this year, 3-0 last series)

                                    3 at Braves (8-7 this year, 2-2 last series)

                                    3 at Phillies (7-8 this year, 2-1 last series)

Phillies (88-63):            4 at Brewers (1-2 this year)

                                    4 vs. Astros (0-4 this year)

                                    3 vs. Fish (8-7 this year, 1-2 last series)

Braves (82-70):            3 at Nationals (7-4 this year, 2-0 last series)

                                    3 vs. Fish (7-8 this year, 2-2 last series)

                                    4 vs. Nationals

Rockies (86-66):          1 vs. Padres (10-7 this year, 1-1 current series)

                                    3 vs. Cardinals (4-0 this year, last series)

                                    3 vs. Brewers (3-0 this year, last series)

                                    3 at Dodgers (3-12 this year, 1-2 last series)

Giants (82-70):             4 vs. Cubs (1-1 this year)

                                    3 vs. Diamondbacks (10-5 this year, 2-1 last series)

                                    3 at Padres (6-9 this year, 1-2 last series)

Cubs (78-73):              4 at Giants (1-1 this year)

                                    4 vs. Pirates (9-2 this year, 3-0 last series)

                                    3 vs. Diamondbacks (1-2 this year)

The Phils all but have the NL East, but they play the Astros, who beat them as inexplicably as the Reds do with us, not to mention we get last crack at them. It would seem the Braves have the best chance to catch the Rockies or Phils with 7 games against the Nationals, but the Nats have been improving lately and played both us and the Phils well recently. Point is, the Fish were elimnated from the playoffs altogether on Sept 23rd last year, after their 157th game. This year, we have played 153 games so far and are guaranteed to make it to our 156th with a chance. We finished 84-77 last year so if we go at least 3-6, we'll beat that.

Sure we'll probably fall short, but what a ride. If it weren't for a crappy 9-20 May, we'd be right in this. Go Fish!!!