Division race: The Cardinals (22-24) lost 5-1 to the Pirates on Thursday, allowing the idle Reds to move into second place in the National League Central by a half game.
The top two teams in each division make the playoffs. The Reds trail the first-place Chicago Cubs (30-20) by 5½ games.
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Wild-card race: The top two teams in each league with the next best records, outside the top two teams in each division, also make the expanded 16-team playoffs. The Reds trail the San Francisco Giants (25-24) by one game and are tied with the Philadelphia Phillies (24-25).
If the season ended today: According to MLB.com’s postseason standings, the Reds would be the No. 6 seed. That would match them up with the No. 3 seed Atlanta Braves (29-21), who would host the best-of-three wild-card series starting Sept. 30.
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The odds: According to FanGraphs.com, the Reds have a 54.7 percent chance of making the playoffs. They have a 0.1 percent chance of winning the division, a 27.9 percent chance of finishing second and a 26.7 percent chance of winning a wild card.
Road ahead: The Reds start a three-game series at home against the Chicago White Sox (33-17) at 7:10 p.m. Friday and close the season next week with three home games against the Milwaukee Brewers (23-26), who trail the Reds aby one game, and three road games against the Minnesota Twins (31-21).
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