Here's How the Pittsburgh Pirates Can Still Earn Wild Card Spot

The Pittsburgh Pirates haven't made the playoffs since the 2015 season, holding the second-longest postseason drought in baseball, only behind the Los Angeles Angels.

But Pittsburgh does have a chance to get in this year, even if the odds are fairly slim. The Pirates have been very competitive this season, showing real improvement from a year ago.

Pittsburgh currently owns a record of 72-73, battling for a wild-card spot in the National League. The NL playoff race is very crowded, with multiple teams across the board vying for spots.

In all reality, two of the three spots are taken by the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs, barring a late-season collapse. This would then leave one spot for multiple teams trying to get in.

Currently, the Pirates are 5.5 games back of the final wild-card spot, which is currently held by the Arizona Diamondbacks. But in front of Pittsburgh, just below Arizona, are the San Diego Padres, who are a half-game behind the Diamondbacks.

The St. Louis Cardinals and Miami Marlins are also in contention, with each behind Pittsburgh by a half-game. This means that the final few weeks of the regular season could see some chaos take place.

Pittsburgh has plenty of ground to make up, but they got off to a good start in their current series with the Chicago White Sox, grabbing a win. The Pirates will finish this series against the White Sox before they take on the Cubs.

Here is the remaining schedule for each team in the NL wild-card race:

Pirates' remaining schedule: two games @ White Sox, three games @ Cubs, three games vs Brewers, three games vs Royals, three games vs Cardinals, and three games @ Tigers

Diamondbacks' remaining schedule: one game @ Royals, three games vs Rangers, three games vs Marlins, three games vs Yankees, three games @ Rockies, and three games @ Padres

Padres' remaining schedule: one game vs Nationals, three games @ Giants, four games @ Rockies, three games vs Marlins, three games vs Dodgers, and three games vs Diamondbacks

Marlins' remaining schedule: one game vs Mets, three games vs Dodgers, three games @ Diamondbacks, three games @ Padres, three games @ Cubs, and three games vs Braves

Cardinals' remaining schedule: one game @ Giants, three games vs White Sox, three games vs Giants, three games vs Nationals, three games @ Pirates, and three games @ Brewers

All in all, the Pirates' chance to get into the playoffs will require them to get some help from other teams. But multiple of these teams vying for a playoff spot do play each other.

So all the Pirates can do is put their best foot forward and hope for the best. But they can control their own fate in how they perform on the field each time out.