Reds, Pirates and Cardinals Play For Positioning

The Reds try to make the most of their situation.  They want a division title which is still possible.  It is improbable but the odds are not prohibitive against them.

The Reds are tied with the Pittsburgh Pirates -  two games behind St. Louis in the standings. Since the Cardinals own the tie-breaker with a 11-8 edge in head-to-head competition, the Reds are essentially three games behind St. Louis.

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Should St. Louis fall behind the Reds and Pirates, the three-game weekend series between them will determine which team will prevail in a tie.  The two teams have split 16 games evenly.  Whichever team wins the series will have the advantage in the tie-breaker.

The Pirates hold the tie-breaker over the Cardinals by winning 10 of their 19 meetings.

Any combination of Reds/Pirates' wins and Washington Nationals' losses that add up to two will eliminate Washington.

All three Central Division teams will make the playoffs.  It will just be a matter of who wins the division and who hosts the single Wild Card game.

St. Louis can do no worse than the second Wild Card.

Should one of the three teams collapse completely and one of the other teams tie with Washington, the Nationals have the advantage of Cincinnati 4-3, but trail Pittsburgh 4-3.  The Nationals lost three previous meetings with St. Louis.  The best the Nationals can do is sweep the Cardinals and tie the season series 3-3.

Professionally edited by ML Schirmer
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