Where Reds stand in playoff race with 19 games left

Reds have big schedule advantage in final three weeks over Padres

The Cincinnati Reds will have to beat the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday to stop a five-series losing streak.

The Reds (75-68) blew a 4-0 lead and lost 6-4 to the Cardinals on Saturday. They remain tied in the wild-card race with the San Diego Padres (74-67), who lost 5-4 to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Cardinals (72-69) trail the Reds and Padres by two games. The Philadelphia Phillies (72-70) are 2½ games back.

According to FanGraphs.com, the Reds have a 43.9 percent chance of winning the wild card. The Padres have a 39.1 percent chance.

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The Reds have 19 games remaining and will play 13 games against teams with losing records. The Padres have 21 games to play and have no more games against teams with losing records.

Here’s how their schedules compare:

• Reds: Sept. 12, at Cardinals; Sept. 14-16, at Pittsburgh Pirates (52-90); Sept. 17-19, vs. Dodgers (90-53); Sept. 20-22, vs. Pirates; Sept. 23-26, vs. Washington Nationals (58-84); Sept. 28-29, at Chicago White Sox (81-61); Oct. 1-3, at Pirates.

• Padres: Sept. 12, at Dodgers; Sept. 13-16, at San Francisco Giants (92-50); Sept. 17-19, at Cardinals; Sept. 21-23, vs. Giants; Sept. 24-26, vs. Atlanta Braves (75-66); Sept. 28-30, at Dodgers; Oct. 1-3, at Giants.

The winner of the second wild-card will play on the road against the Giants or Dodgers, whoever doesn’t win the West Division, on Oct. 6. That game will air on TBS.

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