Depending on your rooting interests, Saturday night was either a wonderful night or a torturous night for the NL postseason races. Aside from the NL East and NL Central races, which are as close to over as they're going to get in early August, everything got a little tighter with Saturday's results.
Here are the pertinent final scores:
Dodgers 3, Red Sox 0 (box score)
Giants 7, Nationals 1 (box score)
Pirates 5, Reds 3 (box score)
Braves 13, Cardinals 5 (box score)
Rockies 12, Marlins 6 (box score)
Tigers 6, Mets 5 (box score)
The NL West race is separated by two games, and there are five clubs separated by no more than three games for the second wild-card spot. The Nationals and Cubs have taken all the excitement out of the NL East and NL Central races already. The NL West and wild-card races are where it's at.
Let's take stock of the various NL postseason hopefuls and figure out what their pluses and minuses are as we enter the final one-third of the season.
Colorado Rockies
Postseason race status: Three games back of a wild-card spot.
Why they're in good shape: If nothing else, boy, can the Rockies score runs. They're averaging 5.2 runs per game this season, and when you can put runs on the board like that, it gives the pitching staff a lot of breathing room. Jon Gray and Tyler Anderson give Colorado legitimate rotation building blocks as well, so this team is no longer a pushover on the mound.
Why they're in trouble: The Rockies are only three games back of a wild-card spot, but there are four teams ahead of them in the standings, and that's tough. Jumping one or two teams is one thing. Jumping four is another. Colorado also figures to have to scale back on Gray's and Anderson's workload at some point, and they also just lost Trevor Story to a season-ending thumb injury as well. That loss may be too big to overcome.
Los Angeles Dodgers
Postseason race status: Two games back in the NL West, three games up on a wild-card spot.
Why they're in good shape: The Mets and Marlins figure to beat each other up the rest of the way, which should give the Dodgers some breathing room for the first wild-card spot. The Dodgers also have nine games remaining with the Giants, including the final three games of the regular season. That means they'll have plenty of chances to make up ground in the division without needing help from anyone else.
Why they're in trouble: When is Clayton Kershaw coming back? They've managed to not only stay in the race without him, but actually gain ground. Still though, this team is at its best with Kershaw pitching every five days, and that's not going to happen anytime soon. The rest of the rotation is rather brittle as well, so while they're in decent shape now, this club almost feels like they're built on a house of cards.
Miami Marlins
Postseason race status: Tied with Cardinals for the second wild-card spot.
Why they're in good shape: One thing the Marlins have going for them are series against the Mets, Dodgers, and Rockies, three wild-card competitors. Those games are an opportunity to create some distance in the race. Giancarlo Stanton is back on track as well, giving the club a huge bat they didn't always have in the first half.
Why they're in trouble: The Marlins are really short on pitching, and that's only going to get worse if Wei-Yin Chen's elbow doesn't get better soon and they lighten the load on Jose Fernandez down the stretch in his first full season from Tommy John surgery. Andrew Cashner will help, but only so much. The Marlins have a sneaky good offense. Can they continue to outscore their own pitching staff?
New York Mets
Postseason race status: Two games back of the second wild-card spot.
Why they're in good shape: You know, this is harder to answer than I thought it would be. They still have a very good rotation led by Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard, plus they have a very favorable schedule down the stretch. A whopping 31 of their 52 remaining games are against the Diamondbacks, Padres, Phillies, Twins, Reds, and Braves.
Why they're in trouble: Let's see. They can't score runs (3.7 per game) and their much ballyhooed rotation is slowly starting to come apart. That enough? Matt Harvey is done for the year following surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome, and both Syndergaard and Steven Matz are pitching with bone spurs in their elbow. Syndergaard may be dealing with fatigue at the moment as well. The offense isn't good enough -- especially with Yoenis Cespedes now on the DL -- to carry the pitching staff if they lose another starter.
Pittsburgh Pirates
Postseason race status: Two games back of the second wild-card spot.
Why they're in good shape: The Pirates finally have some pitching help on the way. Trade deadline pickup Ivan Nova had a strong first start with Pittsburgh on Saturday, and rookie righty Tyler Glasnow is expected back from his shoulder injury reasonably soon. Also, I refuse to believe Andrew McCutchen is going to perform this poorly all season. I expect him to have a big finish to the season.
Why they're in trouble: What if McCutchen doesn't have a big finish? Nova's track record is spotty at best, and who knows what Glasnow will do following his injury. I like Felipe Rivero, but the Mark Melancon trade is a short-term downgrade for sure. The Pirates have sort of hovered around .500 for most of the season and I'm not sure they're capable of making the kind of run it'll take to get to October as presently constructed.
St. Louis Cardinals
Postseason race status: Tied with Marlins for the second wild-card spot.
Why they're in good shape: The Cardinals have a lot of games left against fellow wild-card hopefuls, including the Pirates, Rockies, and Mets, so they somewhat control their own destiny. They also have a fantastic offense, one that averages almost five runs per game, and their pitching is starting to round into form too. Don't discount their depth either. The Cardinals seem to have an internal solution to almost every problem.
Why they're in trouble: St. Louis is really banged up at the moment. Aledmys Diaz is out long-term and three key relievers are on the shelf (Trevor Rosenthal, Jordan Walden, Tyler Lyons). Michael Wacha and Mike Leake have been less than stellar pretty much all season, and there are some big questions in middle relief too. No way should you count out the Cardinals, but this squad doesn't look quiet as bulletproof as they have in the past.
San Francisco Giants
Postseason race status: Two-game lead in the NL West, five-game lead for a wild-card spot.
Why they're in good shape: The Giants have a decent sized lead for a wild-card spot and they are starting to get healthy, with both Hunter Pence and Joe Panik recently returning from injury. They're also one of the highest scoring teams in the NL and have a rotation headed by two Cy Young contenders (Madison Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto).
Why they're in trouble: Cueto hasn't pitched too well in the second half and the bullpen remains a little leaky, even after the Will Smith trade. Matt Moore was brought in to solidify the back of the rotation, and while the Giants deserve credit for always seeming to get the most out of their deadline additions, he's hardly someone who brings a stellar track record to San Francisco.
