Reds: Where they stand in playoffs with three games left

Last game: The Reds (29-28) beat the Milwaukee Brewers 6-1 on Wednesday in the final home game of the season at Great American Ball Park. The Reds won the series 2-1. They have won 10 of their last 13 games.

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Big picture: Of the six teams competing for the four remaining playoff spots, the Reds have the most victories. Right behind them are the San Francisco Giants (28-27), St. Louis Cardinals (27-26), Miami Marlins (28-28), Phillies (28-29) and Brewers (27-28).

Central Division race: The Cardinals lost 12-3 at the Royals, falling into a tie for second place with the Reds. The top two teams in each division make the playoffs. The Brewers trail the Reds and Cardinals by a game. The Chicago Cubs (32-24) lead the division by 3½ games.

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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 Giants beat the Rockies 7-2 and are tied with the Reds. The Brewers and Phillies, who beat the Washington Nationals 12-3, trail the Reds and Giants by a game.

If the season ended today: The Reds would be the No. 8 seed, according to MLB.com. They would lose a tiebreaker to the Cardinals, who would be the No. 5 seed, in the division because the Cardinals won the season series 6-4.

The Giants have a slightly better winning percentage (.5090-.5087) than the Reds and would win a tiebreaker and be the No. 7 seed. However, if the Reds and Giants have the same record, the tiebreaker would be intradivisional record. The Reds are 21-19 against the Central Division. The Giants are 17-18 against the West Division.

As the No. 8 seed, the Reds would match up with the No. 1 seed Los Angeles Dodgers (39-17), 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 an 87.8 percent chance of making the playoffs. They have 29.3 percent chance of finishing second in the division and a 58.5 percent chance of winning a wild card.

Road ahead: The Reds are off Thursday. They close the regular season with three games on the road against the Minnesota Twins (33-22), starting Friday.

The Cardinals start a five-game series against the Brewers on Thursday. They also may have to make up two games against the Detroit Tigers (22-32) next week.

The Giants play the Rockies (24-31) on Thursday and then finish the season with four home games against the Padres (34-22).

The Phillies finish the season with three games at the Tampa Bay Rays (37-20).