Much of the focus has been on the American League Wild Card, and understandably so given that the Red Sox are involved, but the Wild Card race in the National League is becoming more intriguing by the day.
The Cardinals won again last night, 4-2 over the Phillies in 11 innings, giving them their third straight victory and their eighth in their last nine. Meanwhile, the Braves were hammered by the Mets 12-2 at Turner Field.
The surging Cardinals now find themselves 3 1/2 games back of the Braves for the Wild Card and just three games back in the loss column. Just to show you how quickly things have tightened up here, the Braves held an 8 1/2 game lead on September 5.
So here’s the deal: The Braves’ magic number to clinch the Wild Card remains at nine. The Braves have 11 games left on the schedule while the Cardinals will play 12 more. I don’t want Craig to be miserable or anything, but some late-September drama would be a lot of fun.
