NL Central Standings (screenshot via MLB.com)

We’re entering the final weeks of the season and the playoff race is starting to heat up all around baseball.

Cincinnati Reds

The Reds sit comfortably in first place with their 86-57 record. Things are going so well that they’re just chilling out on the beach and complaining about the salt in their margarita. And even though they have struggled a bit as of late, it’s not like any of the other teams are making a run.

Tuesday night, they got the 5-3 win against the Pirates Tuesday night. They will go for the sweep of the Pirates Wednesday as they try to keep getting that magic number down for the division series crown.

You can read more about the Reds at the C-ing Red blog.

St. Louis Cardinals

Even though the Cardinals lost Tuesday night, they still have the second wild card spot in the National League.

Naturally, all the teams within grabbing distance will do anything and everything, short of dropping anvils from large cliffs, to catch the Cardinals. That said, I wouldn’t condemn such a Wile E. Coyote tactic. Maybe it works this time!

The Cardinals are just one game ahead of Dodgers for the second and final playoff spot. Rest assured, the Dodgers are shooting lasers at pictures of Cardinals players.

St. Louis will try to avoid the sweep Wednesday as they wrap up their series with the Padres. After that, they will have a big … I repeat … BIG series with the Dodgers. This series will have lasers and anvils and maybe some 007 James bond weapons.

Make sure to check out Aaron Miles’ Fastball for the latest on the Cardinals.

Pittsburgh Pirates

As mentioned, the Pirates lost Tuesday night. At 72-69 and 13 games behind Cincy, things don’t look good for the Pirates winning that elusive division title. To make matters worse, they’re fourth in the wild card standings, behind the Dodgers.

It was really fun while it lasted, eh Pirates? Pittsburgh has a five-game losing streak. Maybe they can make a run and make some baseball magic, opening the hearts and minds of the Pittsburgh fans … ehh who am I kidding, the fans of Pittsburgh are worried about the Steelers.

Pittsburgh wraps up their series with Cincy Wednesday and will head to Chicago for the weekend to play the Cubs.

Milwaukee Brewers

With their win Tuesday night, Milwaukee sits at the .500 mark and, believe it or not, they’re tied with Philly for fifth in the wild card standings.

The odds are stacked against the Brewers making a run for the division title. But there’s nothing stopping them from trying to take the Cardinals seat at the playoff dinner table.

The remaining series’ are against New York, Pittsburgh, Washington, Cincy, Houston and San Diego. At the very least, the Brewers have a chance to finish the season over .500.

If you’re interested in writing about the Brewers or Pirates, check this link to find out more.

Chicago Cubs

The Cubs have no chance to win the NL Central. Unless they win 20 in a row and everyone in the wild card race gets food poisoning, they’ll be playing golf in October once again.

If you’ve read previous NL Central recaps, you’d know that I’ve pretty much checked out on the Cubs for the season. I knew it was a rebuilding year, so it was one of those “what’s the point” type of things.

Chicago lost Tuesday night, 1-0. The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Cubs. Tuesday night’s game went a little bit faster. Their 4-1 win Monday night took nearly four hours.

Chicago will be home this weekend for a four-game series against the Pirates.

You can read more about the Cubs at A League of Her Own.

Houston Astros

The Houston Astros also have no chance at winning the division. I’m pretty sure they can’t clinch a wild card berth either. Their best hope is for the moon’s gravitational pull to somehow screw up the other baseball teams.

The Astros are closing in on their destination to 100 … losses.

They need three more losses and they can be one of those 100 loss teams that kids read about in the history books. They read about 100-loss baseball teams in history books, right?

If that’s not enough, there’s still the whole song and dance thing with Roger Clemens and the Astros. Just get it over with, Clemens! We know you want to pitch for a MLB team, you might as well just pick the Astros. You can make it fun for 12 seconds!

You can read the latest on the Houston Astros at Tales From the Juice Box.