Looking at the Races

The Rockies sit a game and a half out of the NL West and the Wild Card going into today's action.  The Cardinals have already won today, making it a two game lead, but still only one loss ahead of the Rockies.

Milwaukee still has a chance for the Central title but otherwise should make the Playoffs as will the Cubs.  The Braves wrapped up the NL East this afternoon.

So that leaves the Dodgers, Rockies and Cardinals playing for the remaining two spots.

Dodgers  85-69--Have two remaining home games against the Padres then hit the road to Arizona and San Francisco for 3 each. 

Cardinals 86-69--Finish with the Giants at home tomorrow, host Milwaukee for three and go to Chicago for the weekend for three.

Rockies 83-70--Their last two road games for the season are in Arizona, then home for four against the Phillies, and then Washington for three.

The toughest road is for the Cardinals at the moment with their final 6 against contenders.  The Cubs lead the Brewers by 1.5 games the same as the Dodgers over the Rockies, except that the Brewers have two more losses than the Cubs (the Cubs have one extra game to play).  On the other hand the Cardinals have the biggest say in whether they can move into the Home Wild Card position or even capture the NL Central. 

The Brewers finish with 3 games against Detroit next weekend, while the Cubs host Pittsburgh for 4 in the early part of the week.

For the NL West, on paper the schedule favors the Rockies, as the Dodgers hit the road and the Rockies are home for the last week.  However the Dodgers have a better record on the Road (43-32) vs. Home (42-37).  But then again the Rockies headed into this road trip at 40-32 and are now 42-37.  The Rockies are 41-33 at home but have won 30 of their last 42 at home after starting out 11-20.   

Bottom line, the Rockies need to score runs to get them into the playoffs.  The West Division is not out of reach despite losing 5 of 6 to the Dodgers over the past couple of weeks.   In baseball, anything can happen.  The next 9 days will tell us more.

One more thing...if the Rockies have to play a Tiebreaker game with either the Dodgers or Cardinals it will be a road game.  The Cardinals will have a home Tiebreaker against either the Dodgers or Rockies.

One Bizarre Scenario:
Should all three tie (and Milwaukee and the Cubs win the Central and Home Wild Card spot in any order) the Rockies would go to LA to play the Dodgers on Monday, October 1st, the winner would advance to play Atlanta or the NL Central winner in the Division Series, and the loser would have to go to St. Louis to play for the Visitor Wild Card Spot on Tuesday, (presumably), then the winner would have to go to the Home Wild Card (Milwaukee or Chicago) for the Wild Card game. That winner would play the #1 Seeded team in the Division Series.