Monday BP: Off-day standings update

Happy Monday, San Francisco Giants fans.

The Giants began Friday in prime position. They were holding onto the third Wild Card spot in the National League, and had a four-game set against the lowly Colorado Rockies. Then they did a very silly thing, and lost three consecutive games to the only team in the NL that’s been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention.

Oops.

The Giants tried to salvage things on Sunday, when they hung on for dear life to avoid blowing a nine-run lead, and escaped Coors Field with at least one win in the four-game set. And now they have an off day to reassess and recalibrate and petition Rob Manfred to see if the trade deadline rules can be bent so they can acquire Shohei Ohtani.

But the damage was done. The Giants are now two games out of the final Wild Card spot with just 12 games remaining. They’re also two games behind the first team out, and 1.5 games behind the second team out.

The good news is that the Giants’ next two games are against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the second Wild Card team that’s 2.5 games ahead of them. The bad news is that the teams ahead of the Giants are not exactly kicking off intimidating series.

Still, the Giants are in control of their fate. If they win the next 12 games, they will certainly get into the playoffs. So, personally, my amateur advice to them is to do exactly that.