Saturday NL wild card standings: And then there were 3

The race for the second wild card spot became a little clearer on Friday, as the race is essentially between two teams: the Cardinals and the Dodgers. Unfortunately for the Dodgers though, even though they are hot and have won three straight games, St. Louis just keeps winning, too.

The Dodgers now need 8 of 10 outcomes to go their way just to force a tie with St. Louis. Both the Diamondbacks and Phillies were eliminated on Friday, and the Brewers' elimination number is now just one. Here are the standings:

Here is a recap of the relevant Friday's game action:

Dodgers 8, Rockies 0: Clayton Kershaw was on his game, and the offense scored exactly eight runs for the third straight game.

Cardinals 12, Nationals 2: Thanks, Edwin Jackson.

Astros 7, Brewers 6: Five home runs were hit during the game. Four were by Houston, pushing Milwaukee to the brink.

Diamondbacks 8, Cubs 3: Even though Arizona won, the win by the Cardinals officially eliminated the D-Backs. But Chicago moved to an amazing 0-17 in National League West parks this season.

Marlins 2, Phillies 1: Carlos Lee hit a walk-off single to beat old friend Josh Lindblom as Philadelphia was officially eliminated.

Here is Saturday's schedule:

• 4:10 p.m. - Houston (Dallas Keuchel) at Milwaukee (Marco Estrada)
• 4:15 p.m. - Washington (Jordan Zimmermann) at St. Louis (Kyle Lohse)
• 6:10 p.m. - Colorado (Tyler Chatwood) at Los Angeles (Joe Blanton)