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With a second straight victory over the Diamondbacks on Tuesday night the Dodgers moved closer to their first National League West title in four years. But Tuesday was also about keeping pace, as the top four teams by record in the NL all won.
Here is a recap of Tuesday's relevant playoff action.
Dodgers 5, Diamondbacks 3: The role of walk-off hero was played by Scott Van Slyke, who hit a two-run home run in the 11th inning for the win to lower the Dodgers' magic number to six to clinch the division.
Cardinals 4, Brewers 2: Shelby Miller pitched scoreless ball into the seventh inning to win his 13th game, tying Hyun-jin Ryu for the rookie lead in victories.
Braves 4, Marlins 3: Atlanta won their second straight game to stay two games (and a tiebreaker) ahead of the Dodgers for the best record in the NL. Braves closer Craig Kimbrel has an 0.92 ERA on the season and has converted 36 straight saves. Atlanta's magic number to clinch the NL East is seven.
Pirates 5, Rangers 4: Leading NL MVP candidate Andrew McCutchen went 3-for-5 with three RBI to lead the Pirates to their second straight win in Arlington, remaining one game back of St. Louis.
Cubs 9, Reds 1: Chicago hit four home runs, including one by pitcher and old friend Edwin Jackson to drub Cincinnati. The Reds, losers of two straight fell two games behind Pittsburgh for the first wild card.
Nationals 6, Mets 3: Jayson Werth doubled twice and hit a home run, and suddenly Washington is just five games back of the Reds in the loss column for that second wild card spot.
Padres 8, Phillies 2: San Diego staved off divisional elimination on Tuesday with a road win in Philadelphia.
Wednesday gives two chances for the Padres to be mathematically eliminated from winning the NL West: their division hopes will be officially over either with a loss to the Phillies or a Dodgers win over Arizona. Here is a look at relevant games on Wednesday (all times PT):
- 9:35 a.m. - Chicago (Jeff Samardzija) at Cincinnati (Mike Leake)
- 11:05 a.m. - Pittsburgh (A.J. Burnett) at Texas (Matt Garza)
- 4:05 p.m. - San Diego (Eric Stults) at Philadelphia (Cliff Lee)
- 4:10 p.m. - Atlanta (Mike Minor) at Miami (Jose Fernandez)
- 4:10 p.m. - Washington (Dan Haren) at New York (Zack Wheeler)
- 5:15 p.m. - Milwaukee (Marco Estrada) at St. Louis (Lance Lynn)
- 7:10 p.m. - Arizona (Patrick Corbin) at Dodgers (Hyun-jin Ryu)