National Leaue Review

The three National League division leaders have nice leads as Labor Day has arrived. The wild card leader has a decent lead after a dramatic win capped by a game winning 3 run home run by a long time star. A closer look follows.

The Cincinnati Reds have opened a 9 and a half game lead in the NL Central which means that very, very likely Reds’ manager Dusty Baker will manage a 3rd different franchise to a first place finish. Previously Baker managed both the Giants and Cubs to one eighth division titles meaning the first place finish meant qualification in the 8 team baseball tournament which started in 1995. The Braves beat out Baker’s Giants in the last real division/pennant race in 1993 which was Baker’s first year as a major league manager.

The next biggest lead is 6 and a half games which is the lead for the Washington Nationals in the NL East. The Nationals are managed by Davey Johnson, who if the lead holds up will be managing a 4th different team to a first place finish. Previously, Johnson managed the Mets to two “one quarter” divisional titles and guided the Baltimore Orioles and Cincinnati Reds to one eighth divisional wins.

The San Francisco Giants, who ended a 56 year World Series Title drought two years ago have a four and a half game lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West. The Giants won 5 out of 6 on the road in the past week albeit against two poor teams the woeful Astros, whom the Giants swept and the Chicago Cubs.

The Atlanta Braves rode a 2 out game ending 3 run home run from Chipper Jones, their long time star, rallying for 5 runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat the Phillies (8-7) and avoid a 3 game sweep. Atlanta has a 3 game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals for the top wild card berth and a 3 and a half game lead over the Dodgers for playoff qualification. The Pirates, who were swept in Milwaukee by the Brewers are one and a half games behind in the race for playoff qualification.