How dreaded September stacks up for the Phillies in their bid to snap their playoff drought

Despite a rough series in Arizona, the Phillies enter September with another chance to break the longest current postseason drought (10 years) among National League teams. Only the Mariners (21 years) have been more futile.

Baseball expanded its playoffs this year and added a third wild-card team. The Atlanta Braves have a firm grip on the first wild card (although they also could catch the New York Mets for the NL East title), which leaves three teams fighting for the last two wild-card spots: the Phillies, Milwaukee Brewers, and San Diego Padres. The San Francisco Giants and Diamondbacks are lurking, but they need to get scorching hot.

Games remaining: 31

At home/On road: 12/19

Vs. .500-plus teams: 12

Watch out: They’ve handled the Marlins pretty well this season (8-5) but still have six games remaining with the Fish. The Phillies are an inexplicable 4-9 against Miami in the final month of the season over the last two years, and it has cost them dearly.

Finish up: They end with nine road games in 10 days, including a doubleheader in Washington and three in Houston, the top team in the American League. The Phillies haven’t played the Astros in five years.

» READ MORE: Phillies’ playoff push: Biggest questions, X factor and what to expect from Bryce Harper

Games remaining: 30

At home/On road: 18/12

Vs. .500-plus teams: 14

Watch out: The Padres are just 2-8 against the Dodgers and have nine games left against them — six at home, three in L.A.

Finish up: They end with nine home games, including three against the Giants, against whom they are 10-5 this season. This could be trouble for the Phillies.

Games remaining: 33

At home/On road: 20/13

Vs. .500-plus teams: 10

Watch out: They play six home games against New York teams from Sept. 16-21. The first three are against the first-place Yankees. The next three are against the first-place Mets.

Finish up: They end with nine home games, which also would seem to be problematic for the Phillies. The Brew Crew entered September 35-26 at home, just 34-34 on the road.

The Phillies start September at 10:15 p.m. Friday in San Francisco, which could be a good omen. The Phils lost two of three in their only series against the Giants this season. Both losses were in extra innings in May, which was enough for Dave Dombrowski to fire manager Joe Girardi and replace him with Miller Huggins, errr Rob Thomson. Maybe the Giants, managed by former Phils skipper Gabe Kapler, are good luck.

Sept. 2-4 at San Francisco

Sept. 6-9 vs. Miami

Sept. 9-11 vs. Washington

Sept. 13-15 at Miami

Sept. 16-18 at Atlanta

Sept. 20-21 vs. Toronto

Sept. 22-25 vs. Atlanta

Sept. 27-29 at Chicago Cubs

Sept. 30-Oct. 2 at Washington

Oct. 3-5 at Houston

How the Phillies’ remaining opponents have fared in their most recent 10 games entering Thursday, and in August overall:

Aaron Nola gets a lot of heat for coming up small at the worst times. He didn’t help himself by getting pasted by Arizona on Tuesday (eight earned runs in four innings). He figures to have seven starts left this season. Here are his numbers in the final month of the season over the last four years:

2021: The Phillies were 68-64 and three games back of the Padres for the second wild card. They closed with a whimper at 14-16, and the Cardinals finished 23-9 to claim the last playoff spot. Poor San Diego, which hacked up a 7-21 final month and didn’t even finish above .500.

2020: The playoffs expanded to eight teams because of the pandemic-shortened season, and still the Phillies couldn’t break through. They entered September with a one-game lead for the final playoff berth and blew it by going 13-17 in the final month. Even more nauseating was blowing a 1½-game lead by losing seven of the final eight.

2019: The Phils were 69-65 and trailed the Cubs by 3½ games for the second wild card. A six-game losing streak, including a 10-1 loss to Cleveland when the bullpen melted down, sealed the Phillies’ playoff hopes and Kapler’s job.

2018: The Phillies trailed Milwaukee by three games in the wild card but only were two games back of Atlanta for the NL East lead. A good September could end a modest six-year playoff drought. Instead, Milwaukee (20-6) and Colorado (19-10) got hot, and the Phillies staggered home with an 8-20 mark. That’s when they set their sights on free agent Bryce Harper.

Statistics through Wednesday.