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Pirates Make Serious Progress in NL Wild Card Race

Jul 19, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes (30) prepares to pitch during the first inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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Pirates Make Serious Progress in NL Wild Card Race

Originally posted on Pittsburgh Pirates on SI
By Dominic Campbell | Last updated Jul 20, 2026 9:00 AM ET

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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates kept up their good performances following the All-Star break and showed that they're going to go as far as they can in 2026.

The Pirates got a big series win over the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field, taking two of three games, July 18-19, marking their first three games of the second half of the season.

Pittsburgh will feel hard done they didn't get the sweep, with the bullpen allowing five runs late in the 5-3 defeat in the second game of the doubleheader, but they will always take a road series victory against a team competing for their division title.

The Pirates now move closer to a spot in the postseason and have positioned themselves incredibly well after 100 games, 52-48 overall.

NL Wild Card Race After Guardians Series

Team	Record (%)	Wild Card GA/GB
Chicago Cubs	56-43 (.566)	+4.5
Philadelphia Phillies	55-45 (.556)	+3.0
St. Louis Cardinals	51-47 (.520)	--
Miami Marlins	52-48 (.520)	--
Pittsburgh Pirates	52-48 (.520)	--
Arizona Diamondbacks	51-48 (.515)	0.5
Washington Nationals	50-50 (.500)	2.0
San Diego Padres	49-50 (.495)	2.5

The Pirates are now tied for the third National League Wild Card spot, tied with the Miami Marlins at 52-48 and having the same winning percentage as the St. Louis Cardinals.

Both the Cardinals and Marlins have the season tie-breakers over the Pirates, 2-5 and 1-2, respectively, so the Pirates would finish outside the playoffs if the season ended.

The Pirates have managed to get in this position as they have won five of their last six games and gone 9-5 in 14 games in July.

Pittsburgh has also gotten some luck, as the Marlins have lost their past six games, suffering back-to-back sweeps to the Guardians at home before the All-Star break and then, most recently, to the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field this weekend.

The Cardinals also lost two of three games to the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field this weekend, including an 8-7 loss on July 19, which came after they led 7-0 through five innings.

Arizona has now gotten within a half game and is right next to the Pirates, making for a four-way race for the last wild card spot.

The last two teams fighting for a spot are the Washington Nationals, who took two out of three games against the Athletics on the road and are two games back, and the San Diego Padres, who lost two of three games against the Kansas City Royals away.

Both the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies moved up in the wild card standings, with the Cubs 4.5 games ahead and the Phillies three games ahead of the rest of the pack.

Pirates Continue Rough Stretch in July

The Pirates have faced five teams in July who are all in contention for the postseason and face three more of them in the next three series.

Pittsburgh travels to face the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in their next series, July 20-22, then hosts the Cubs, July 24-26, and the Diamondbacks, July 27-29, for a six-game homestand at PNC Park.

All three of these series are crucial for the Pirates in not just staying in the NL Wild Card race, but also taking advantage of other teams not playing as well, which they've done so far this month.

The Pirates have shown they can compete amongst the best in baseball, but they'll have to keep doing that to make their first postseason since 2015.

This article first appeared on Pittsburgh Pirates on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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