Cincinnati Reds: Where they stand in playoff race with eight games to play

Last game: The Reds (26-26) beat the Chicago White Sox 7-1 on Friday at Great American Ball Park to get back to .500 for the first time since they were 1-1. The Reds have won six games in a row. They had not won more than three games in a row before this streak.

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Division race: The Cardinals (24-24) swept a doubleheader from the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Cardinals and Reds are tied for second in the National League Central.

The top two teams in each division make the playoffs. The Reds and Cardinals trail the first-place Chicago Cubs (31-20) by 5½ games.

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 are one half game behind the Philadelphia Phillies (26-25) and are tied with the San Francisco Giants (25-25).

If the season ended today: According to MLB.com’s postseason standings, the Reds would be the No. 8 seed. The Cardinals would get the No. 6 seed because they would win a tiebreaker against the Reds by having won the head-to-head season series 6-4.

The Reds would beat the Giants for the final wild card. The Red and Giants don’t play in the regular season, so the second tiebreaker, which is winning percentage in your division, would come into play. The Reds are 19-18 in the Central. The Giants are 15-17 in the West.

The Reds would match up with the No. 1 seed Los Angeles Dodgers (37-15), 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 62.0 percent chance of making the playoffs. They have a 0.1 percent chance of winning the division, a 25.2 percent chance of finishing second and a 36.7 percent chance of winning a wild card.

Road ahead: The Reds continue three-game series at home against the Chicago White Sox (33-18) at 7:07 p.m. Saturday and close the season next week with three home games against the Milwaukee Brewers (24-26), who trail the Reds by one game, and three road games against the Minnesota Twins (31-21).