Around the Wild Card Race: September 19 Edition

News and notes from the Wild Card teams:

• Paul Janish of Atlanta suffered a dislocated shoulder in the game against Miami last night. He had it popped back into place and was taken for X-rays, which showed no structural damage. He expects to be sore for a few days but not miss much time.
• Los Angeles got some good news on the injury front yesterday. After being examined by a hip specialist, Clayton Kershaw was cleared to continue throwing for the Dodgers. He won't be allowed to pitch in a game while the pain persists, but hasn't been ruled out for the rest of the season.
• Arizona thought they would get some good news with the return of Chris Yong to the starting lineup after he had sustained a quad injury. However, he reaggravated it in the first inning while tracking down a fly ball and will most likely miss more time.

Here are yesterday's results:

• Milwaukee continued their hot streak with another win over Pittsburgh, using strong pitching, free running, and a lot of singles to take a 6-0 win over the Pirates. You can see the recap from Kyle here. (Box Score)
• In Miami, Nathan Eovaldi pitched a gem for the Marlins, and they got three runs off of Atlanta to take a 3-0 lead after eight innings. However, Atlanta stormed back with three runs off of Heath Bell in the ninth inning to force extra innings, but would lose in the tenth as Jose Reyes had a walk-off single to give the Marlins a 4-3 win. (Box Score)
• The St. Louis game against Houston went about as you would have expected. Kyle Lohse pitched seven shutout innings while the Cardinals got three runs off of Fernando Abad on route to a 4-1 win. (Box Score)
• Arizona got a boost from Ian Kennedy as they faced San Diego in the start of a critical series. He allowed one run over eight innings, and the Diamondbacks got two RBI-doubles from Miguel Montero as they held on for a 3-2 win. (Box Score)
• LA Dodgers-Washington was postponed due to rain. They will make it up as part of a doubleheader today.
• Philadelphia-NY Mets was also postponed due to rain. It will be made up on a mutual off day on Thursday.

Here are the current Wild Card standings:

Atlanta's lead on the first playoff spot shrunk a little with a loss in Miami, while St. Louis maintained their lead on the second playoff spot with their win. The Dodgers and Phillies lost a half game with rainouts, while Milwaukee and Arizona kept pace with wins. Pittsburgh and San Diego lost ground with their losses.

With the win over the Pirates, the Brewers got a small boost in their playoff chances, taking them into the double-digits. Here are the updated playoff chances from CoolStandings.com:

A double-header leads off the action in the Wild Card race today. Here are the games on tap:

LA Dodgers vs. Washington - 3:05 PM CDT
Game 1 - Aaron Harang (9-9, 3.79 ERA) vs. Jordan Zimmermann (10-8, 3.01 ERA)
Game 2 - Josh Beckett (6-13, 4.94 ERA) vs. John Lannan (3-0, 2.41 ERA)

Milwaukee vs. Pittsburgh - 6:05 PM CDT
Marco Estrada (3-6, 3.77 ERA) vs. Kyle McPherson (0-0, 1.54 ERA)

Atlanta vs. Miami - 6:10 PM CDT
Kris Medlen (8-1, 1.62 ERA) vs. Josh Johnson (8-12, 3.81 ERA)

Philadelphia vs. NY Mets - 6:10 PM CDT
Cole Hamels (15-6, 3.06 ERA) vs. Matt Harvey (3-5, 2.92 ERA)

Houston vs. St. Louis - 7:15 PM CDT
Lucas Harrell (10-9, 3.86 ERA) vs. Lance Lynn (15-7, 3.95 ERA)

San Diego vs. Arizona - 8:40 PM CDT
Edinson Volquez (10-10, 4.24 ERA) vs. Trevor Cahill (11-11, 3.92 ERA)