National League Review

The Washington Nationals, despite having lost 4 games in a row, still have a 4 and a half game lead over the Atlanta Braves in the NL East. The Philadelphia Phillies, who will miss the post season for the first time since 2006 did sweep Washington in a 3 game weekend series in Philadelphia. However, it is far too little and far too late for the Phillies. The Braves have a 2 and a half game lead for the higher wild card and a 4 game lead for playoff qualification.

Though the NL Central story in the past week were the World Champion, St. Louis Cardinals (more on them in a bit) the Cincinnati Reds still have an “until further notice” sign as very likely division winners. They lead the Cardinals by 6 games. Now St.Louis did go (5-1) this past week, first sweeping the woeful (40-88) Astros and then winning 2 of 3 games in Cincinnati. The results give the Cardinals a one and a half  game lead for the 2nd wild card spot. Of course, last year the Cardinals as the NL wild card went on to win their 11th World title. The Pirates are 2 games out in the wild card race and have fallen 8 games behind Cincinnati in the division.

The Giants swept a 3 game series in Los Angeles and still have a 2 game lead over the Dodgers. However, while the Dodgers have added such players as Hanley Ramirez and Adrian Gonzalez, the Giants lost All Star Game MVP Melky Cabrera so which team is more likely to win the division? The Dodgers are also one and a half games behind the Cardinals in the wild card race.