NL Central Standings (screenshot via MLB.com)

Happy Fourth of July, everybody! Hope you’re having a great day filled with … stuff! There have been some interesting twists in the NL Central as a big change occurred late Tuesday night.

Cincinnati Reds

With the loss to the Dodgers Tuesday night, the Reds are now tied for first with the Pittsburgh Pirates. How did this happen? The Reds seem to be just holding on to their spot in the division. But how long will their reign at the top last?

Of course, all the hot talk in Cincinnati is about this Billy Hamilton guy and his 100 stolen bases for the Reds A-affiliate, Bakersfield.

The Reds wrap up their series with the Dodgers Wednesday and then travel to San Diego for a meeting with the Padres this weekend.

Find all your Billy Hamilton and Reds news at C-ing Red.

Pittsburgh Pirates

It’s hard to believe the Pirates are tied for the division lead, but it’s true. It’s just nuts! Somebody help me figure this out! I’m losing my mind! I can’t stop using exclamation points! Please! Anybody!

The Pirates got the win Tuesday night over Houston thanks to a walk-off home run by Drew Sutton.

Pittsburgh is already going to at least split the series with Houston. They have an opportunity to complete the sweep Wednesday and Thursday. This weekend, they’ll be home again for a series with the Giants. Who knows, maybe the Pirates will have sole possession of first plac… ohhhh, I think I’m going to be sick. *runs to the bathroom*

St. Louis Cardinals

Meanwhile in St. Louis, the Cardinals sit just a few games back in the division. But my beef for today is about how the Cardinals have a bunch of players with two first names as their full names. Consider if you will the following names: Allen Craig, Jon Jay, Lance Lynn, Joe Kelly! These are all players with two first names.

Ordinarily, I wouldn’t care, but this is the Cardinals we’re talking about here. This is crazy! It won’t be long until the Cardinals field a line-up with nothing but players with two first names. Call me crazy … if you must!

Of course many of these players get mentioned often, especially by the writers at Aaron Miles Fastball. I can assure you, they have plenty of sparklers for everyone.

Milwaukee Brewers

The Brewers are playing slightly better baseball. They get to sit around in fourth place in the NL Central and it looks kind of comfy.

Let’s pretend for a second the Brewers aren’t trading Greinke to the Nationals. If Milwaukee can put something together during the second half of the season, they could easily stake their claim in the NL Central race. Anything is possible.

Milwaukee is coming off of a slugfest win against Miami Tuesday night. The Brewers play two more against Miami, including today. Then they will travel to Houston to play the Astros.

We are of course looking for writers to write about the Brewers. So put off that hot dog eating contest for a couple of minutes and check out this link here to find out more about how you can be the Bernie Brewer correspondent.

Houston Astros

The Astros sit in fifth place. I’m not really sure how much more can be added to this statement. With a weekend series against Milwaukee coming up, the Astros would probably like to play a little better. Houston has a six- game losing streak.

They’re in danger of losing a series to those Pirates. Houston lost the first two games of the series, including Tuesday night. The best the Astros can do now is go for the series split.

To read the latest on the Astros, check out Tales From the Juice Box.

Chicago Cubs

So the Cubs lost 10-3 Tuesday night. But they’ve been playing slightly better ever since some guy named Anthony Rizzo (Reezo, Rice-a-roni, Weezer, whatever) was called up to the team to take part on the team.

Rizzo has been playing … he’s been playing well thus far. In seven games, Rizzo has a .296 batting average and two home runs and three doubles. It will be interesting to see how things go from here. Either way, I hate seeing this kid get the weight of the team put on his shoulders. Just take it easy on the kid. He’s got a long career ahead of him. Let him make his mistakes, people!

The Cubs will wrap up the rest of their series with the Braves Wednesday and Thursday. Then this weekend, they head to New York to play against the Mets.

To read up on all the Cubs news, check out A League of Her Own.