LOS ANGELES – Wait’ll next year.

The Cincinnati Reds season isn’t over, but the way they’re finishing August doesn’t offer a lot of promise for what’s around the corner in September.

A 6-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Aug. 26 was the Reds’ fifth loss in six games – dropping them from a half-game out of playoff position to 3 1/2 in five days flat.

They haven’t been that far behind the Mets for the final National League wild-card position since Aug. 8.

One night after getting shut out on three hits by Emmet Sheehan and the Dodgers bullpen, the Reds managed just seven hits – just two until the sixth.

Those two were a leadoff double by Spencer Steer and one-out single by Elly De La Cruz that put runners at the corners in the first. The Reds wound up with one run on a run-scoring grounder.

That Miguel Andujar grounder marked the first of 14 consecutive batters retired by three-time Cy Young winner Clayton Kerhsaw (9-2) to finish off his five innings of work.

It was 6-1 by the time a leadoff walk and two-run homer by Austin Hays in the seventh closed the gap. It was Hays’ first home run since July 18.

Reds starter Nick Martinez battled into the sixth inning before Will Smith led off with a home run that gave the Dodgers a 3-1 lead.

By the end of the inning, Noelvi Marte – making his first career start in centerfield – got his biggest test on a drive to the track by pinch-hitter Miguel Rojas. Marte got turned around before the ball cleared his glove for a two-run double.

The Reds are 3-5 with one to go during this three-city, nine-game trip west.

They return home to face the Cardinals, after which comes a gauntlet to open September of: the American League East-leading Blue Jays, Mets and playoff-positioned San Diego Padres.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Reds lose to Dodgers, drop back to Mets in NL wild-card standings