By Spike Eskin

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – It’s only been a week, but the Phillies playoff fever seems like it was a million years ago. After seven straight wins, the Phillies found themselves three games out of the final wild card spot, and most of Philadelphia believed there was a legitimate chance at some post-season baseball for the home team.

And then of course, Houston happened.

Now, with 13 games to play, the Phillies are four games off the pace of the second wild card spot, and the likelihood of them making up that ground is small.

But it’s not impossible.

“The Cardinals can go lose three in a row,” MLB Network’s Peter Gammons told 94WIP’s Angelo Cataldi and The WIP Morning Show on Thursday. “I mean, it’s very hard to catch the Cardinals at this point. They have a very favorable schedule. I think tomorrow is a huge day when Chris Carpenter comes back into the rotation. I think he will provide a huge emotional lift.”

The biggest problem for the Phillies, is that it’s not just about the Cardinals they need some help from. “They don’t play anybody they’re chasing,” MLB Network’s Matt Yallof told the WIP Morning Show. “The Dodgers don’t play anybody they’re currently chasing. The Brewers don’t play anybody they’re currently chasing. So, everybody needs help and they need the helps of the Cardinals going the wrong way. If the Cardinals go 7-6 in their remaining 13, the Phillies need to go 11-2 to tie them. But that doesn’t take into account what the teams ahead of the Phillies [Dodgers, Brewers] do. So unlikely is the best scenario. It could happen, yea, it could certainly happen, but the Houston series was a killer. But you know what else was? The fact that they were dreadful in the first half, and those games means just as much.”