Around the Wild Card Race: September 24 Edition

News and notes from around the league:

• Injuries have been flaring up in St. Louis. On Satuday, Yadier Molina was removed from the game with back spasms. On Sunday, Carlos Beltran was out of the starting lineup due to illness, and Matt Holiday was removed from the game early for the second straight game with back tightness.
• In Los Angeles, Dodgers shortstop Hanley Ramirez had to leave the game early after fouling a ball off of his shin. X-rays were negative and he's expected to return to the lineup Tuesday.
• Chris Johnson of Arizona also left his game early after taking a pitch in the left hand. X-rays on his hand were negative, and he's day-to-day.
• Pittsburgh GM Neal Huntington has his own perspective on why his players are struggling. He believes that they are struggling because they have a "survivor" mentality now.

Looking back at yesterday's games:

• In the Milwaukee-Washington game, it came down to the bullpens as both starters had short starts and both allowed two runs. It was the Nationals bullpen that broke, as Ryan Mattheus loaded the bases and then allowed three straight hitters to record RBIs and take a 5-2 lead. The Brewers bullpen held strong and got them a critical 6-2 win. Noah has the recap if you missed it. (Box Score)
• A pitcher's duel broke out in Philadelphia. Tim Hudson of Atlanta pitched 7 1/3 innings of two-hit baseball, while Cliff Lee of Philadelphia struck out eleven. In the end, it all came down to the runs as Cliff Lee's two runs were too much, and Atlanta won 2-1. (Box Score)
• Pittsburgh desperately needed to end their losing stream, and was able to finally do that. They got multi-hit games from six players, led by a 4-for-6 performance from Josh Harrison. They put together eighteen hits as they win 8-1 over Houston. (Box Score)
• St. Louis used a balanced attack in Chicago to start a new winning streak. Multi-hit games from Matt Carpenter, Allen Craig, and Pete Kozma led the Cardinals to a 6-3 win. (Box Score)
• It was an offensive explosion in Colorado, though not the typical one of multiple home runs. The teams combined for seventeen runs and thirty-two hits. The big runs came from a three-run home run by Aaron Hill of Arizona, which started a rally than ended with a 10-7 win. (Box Score)
• San Diego kept their chances alive for one more day while San Francisco rested some starters. Led by a 4-for-4 day from Everth Cabrera, the Padres got a big 6-4 win. (Box Score)
• Los Angeles got Clayton Kershaw back after a hip scare. It was a short but effective start from Kershaw, as Homer Bailey got roughed up for five runs and the Dodgers kept pace with a 5-3 win. (Box Score)

Here are the updated Wild Card standings:

Everyone except Philadelphia won yesterday, so it was a day of holding on in the standings. San Diego is off today, but could be eliminated from contention with a St. Louis win.

With St. Louis, Milwaukee, and everyone else winning, the Brewers playoff chances barely changed. Here are the updated playoff odds from CoolStandings.com:

Monday is here and it's an odd Monday, with some teams starting new series and others ending wraparound series. Here are today's matchups:

Milwaukee vs. Washington - 12:05 PM CDT
Marco Estrada (4-6, 3.56 ERA) vs. Jordan Zimmermann (11-8, 2.96 ERA)

Pittsburgh vs. NY Mets - 6:10 PM CDT
Kyle McPherson (0-1, 2.25 ERA) vs. Jenrry Mejia (0-1, 9.00 ERA)

St. Louis vs. Houston - 7:05 PM CDT
Lance Lynn (16-7, 3.79 ERA) vs. Fernando Abad (0-5, 5.511 ERA)

Arizona vs. Colorado - 7:40 PM CDT
Trevor Cahill (12-11, 3.89 ERA) vs. Tyler Chatwood (4-5, 5.73 ERA)

Idle: Atlanta, LA Dodgers, Philadelphia, San Diego