How far back are the Diamondbacks from a postseason spot with 15 games left?

Despite dropping two of three games to the San Francisco Giants, the Arizona Diamondbacks actually gained ground on the New York Mets for the third National League Wild Card spot after the early-week series.

The Mets have dropped five straight contests to swing the door open for the pack of teams in the hunt to close in.

The Diamondbacks entered Thursday’s off day 3.5 games behind New York (four games back in the loss column) with 15 games left on the schedule.

The Giants and Cincinnati Reds trailed by two games, as they currently pose the greatest threats to New York’s playoff chances, while the St. Louis Cardinals are also hanging around.

The D-backs have the down-and-out Minnesota Twins (64-82) this weekend, albeit with a couple difficult pitching matchups in having to face Pablo Lopez (2.84 ERA) and Joe Ryan (3.32 ERA).

After that, Arizona returns to Chase Field for its final homestand of the season, a difficult schedule with the Giants, Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers.

Their fellow Wild Card contenders also face tough sledding to end the season.

Making the postseason remains an outside possibility for the Diamondbacks, but manager Torey Lovullo’s messaging has been consistent over the last few weeks:

“We were three games up with seven to play last year, and I had to watch everybody dance in the postseason,” Lovullo said. “So we’re gonna fight. We’re gonna keep fighting.”

National League Wild Card standings

Standings entering play on Thursday

WC1: Chicago Cubs 83-63 (+7)
WC2: San Diego Padres 79-67 (+3)
WC3: New York Mets 76-70

Cincinnati Reds 74-72 (2.0)
San Francisco Giants 74-72 (2.0)
Arizona Diamondbacks 73-74 (3.5)
St. Louis Cardinals 72-75 (4.5)

Opponents for third NL Wild Card contenders

Mets: Phillies (1), Rangers (3), Padres (3), Nationals (3), Cubs (3), Marlins (3)

Giants: Dodgers (3), Diamondbacks (3), Dodgers (4), Cardinals (3), Rockies (3)

Reds: Athletics (3), Cardinals (3), Cubs (4), Pirates (3), Brewers (3)

Diamondbacks: Twins (3), Giants (3), Phillies (3), Dodgers (3), Padres (3)

Cardinals: Brewers (3), Reds (3), Brewers (3), Giants (3), Cubs (3)

By opposing winning percentage, the Cardinals (.556) have the toughest remaining schedule, followed by the Diamondbacks (.527) and Reds (.517) in this group. The Giants have the easiest (.482), but that’s only because the Rockies weigh that winning percentage way down.

An additional factor for the final weekend of the season is the state of competition, considering some teams with their tickets punched may not have anything to play for. The Padres might be in that bucket, but so could the Cubs and Brewers.

The Marlins are an ominous matchup for the Mets to end the season. In 2007 and 2008, the Mets were coasting toward the postseason before late September collapses, and both times, a loss to the Marlins in Game 162 ended their campaign prematurely.

Tiebreakers may also come into effect. The first is head-to-head matchup, followed by record within the division.

The Diamondbacks lost their season series with the Reds and split six games with both the Mets and the Cardinals. Their season series with the Giants comes down to next week’s set at Chase Field with each team 5-5.

The intradivision records between the Diamondbacks, Mets and Cardinals are all similar, so those tiebreakers won’t be revealed until the end of the season.

The Diamondbacks have succeeded in staying alive long enough to play meaningful September baseball, and after snapping a three-game skid with a victory on Wednesday, there is very little room left for error.

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