I had intended to create this a few hours ago, but I wasn't able to get to it. This is the thread for the last bit of games tonight and all of tomorrow's games leading up until 7:05, when Dan Straily leads the A's into battle against Kevin Correia and the Twins.
What's going on now:
The Reds and Astros are tied at four in the 11th. Brandon Phillips is 0-for-6. In the top of the 9th, Josh Fields came on for Houston and walked Billy Hamilton and Shin-Soo Choo on four pitches each. Phillips came to the plate with Votto and Bruce to follow him, so what did Dusty Baker do? He bunted. Against a pitcher who hadn't thrown a strike. Phillips was called out for running inside the basepaths and neither of the runners advanced. The Reds failed to score in the inning. What's at stake: A Reds win would put them half a game behind the Pirates for the top Wild Card spot, 2.5 behind the Cardinals for the NL Central lead and 5.5 up on the Nationals for the final Wild Card spot. Reds win 6-5 in 13.
In a game started by Brandon McCarthy, the Diamondbacks lead the Dodgers 4-2 in the sixth. What's at stake: A Dodgers win would clinch the NL West. It would also put them 1 game behind St. Louis for the #2 seed in the NL and two games behind Atlanta for the top spot. DBacks win 9-4.
What's on tap tomorrow:
Jfkoo has another excellent breakdown of tomorrow's games with AL playoff race implications. Thanks!
Also, take note of key NL matchups:
9:35 am - San Diego (Ian Kennedy, 6-9, 4.85) at Pittsburgh (Gerrit Cole, 8-7, 3.33): With Mark Melancon's blown save, the Pirates trail the Cardinals by two for the NL Central title. With the Reds still playing at the moment, Pittsburgh leads Cincinnati by a game for the top Wild Card spot. Pittsburgh leads the Reds by half a game for the top Wild Card spot.. The Pirates will host idle Cincinnati for three games this weekend.
12:10 pm - St. Louis (Michael Wacha, 3-1, 2.81) at Colorado (Roy Oswalt, 0-6, 7.71): The Cardinals will enter the day leading the Pirates by two games and the Reds by 2.5. Their magic number to win the division stands at 9.
12:40 pm - Los Angeles (Ricky Nolasco, 13-10, 3.36) at Arizona (Wade Miley, 10-10, 3.70): The Dodgers get their second shot at the NL West title tomorrow.
4:05 pm - Miami (Henderson Alvarez, 4-4, 3.97) at Washington (Gio Gonzalez, 10-7, 3.40): The Nationals will enter the day trailing Cincinnati by 5.5. The magic number for the second Wild Card spot os 5. The idle Braves have a magic number of two in the NL East entering the day. The Marlins are 0-6 at Nationals Park this season and have scored a total of five runs in those games.