Around the NL Central: August 28 Edition

News:

It's the weekend, which is usually pretty slow for news.  So today's AtNLC's news is mostly player profile based. 

For instance, the Chicago Trib has an article on Tyler Colvin and how he is trying to make up for his poor year by playing well in September.

See also: The Pirates' Pedro Alvarez is trying to refind his hitting stroke in AAA. 

This one kills two birds with one stone:  The Pirates' Alex Presley and Chase d'Arnaud played well in their rehab starts against beleaguered Reds pitcher Edinson Volquez, leading the two of them to rejoin the Pirates last Thursday.

And now for something completely different:  The Cubs GM search is on, and the Chicago Tribune runs down a list of candidates for the job, including Kim Ng--the current senior vice president of baseball operations for the MLB and someone who perhaps already should have been the first female general manager in baseball.

Yesterday's Games:

The Brewers beat the Cubs 6-4.  You can find our recap here.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals were shut out by the Pirates 7-0, so Milwaukee's lead in the NL Central just keeps growing.  St. Louis managed seven hits, but couldn't string anything together.  Chris Carpenter didn't help their cause, giving up six earned runs in five innings.  Meanwhile, Brad Lincoln allowed just four hits in six innings for the Pirates and Daniel McCutchen and Chris Resop shut down the Cards the next three innings.  Garrett Jones and James Harrison both had three hits, and Harrison also drove in three runs.

The Reds beat the Nationals, 6-3.  Drew Stubbs was 3-3 with an RBI while Brandon Phillips went 2-4 with two runs and an RBI.  Mike Leake pitched well, giving up just two runs (both on home runs) in six innings while striking out four.

The Astros lost to the Giants 2-1 in ten innings.  The GIants last inning run--an RBI single from former Astro Jeff Keppinger--was a nice bookend as their lone other run came in the first inning.  The Astros' lone run came on an RBI double from Carlos Lee, scoring Jason Bourgeois.  Lee went three for three with a walk in this game.  Bret Myers pitched great, going seven innings and allowing just one run on two hits and three walks while striking out seven.

Updated Standings:

The Wild Card race looks like this right now:

And here are the playoff participants, if the season ended today:

Today's Matchups:

Johnny Cueto (9-5, 2.03) and the Reds go up against Jordan Zimmerman (8-11, 3.10) and the Nationals.

Zack Greinke (12-5, 4.22) gets the call for the Brewers as they look to sweep the Cubs, who have Casey Coleman (2-6, 7.59) pitching.

Kyle Lohse (11-8, 3.73) is on the mound for the Cardinals while Jeff Karstens (9-7, 3.09) goes for the Pirates.

The Astros will have Bud Norris (6-8, 3.73) face Matt Cain (10-9, 2.90) as they face the Giants.