MLB standings 2013: Cardinals tie Dodgers for No. 2 NL seed

The Dodgers couldn't complete their sweep of the Diamondbacks on Wednesday night, but the National League West did officially become a two-team race as the Padres were mathematically eliminated from a division title. The loss by the Dodgers dropped them into a tie with the Cardinals for the No. 2 seed in the NL.

Here is a look back at Wednesday's relevant action.

Diamondbacks 4, Dodgers 1: Arizona grabbed a lead early against Hyun-jin Ryu and never let go, salvaging one game at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers' magic number remains six, which means a division clinching won't likely happen at home but rather during a 10-game road trip which starts Monday in Phoenix.

Cardinals 5, Brewers 1: Four runs in the eighth inning, punctuated by a two-run home run from Matt Adams, gave St. Louis a fifth straight win. The Cardinals are now tied with the Dodgers for the No. 2 seed in the NL, but the Dodgers hold the tiebreaker by winning four of seven games against St. Louis this season.

Marlins 5, Braves 2: Atlanta remained two games ahead of the Dodgers for the top seed in the NL, thanks to Jose Fernandez on the mound and at the plate:

Atlanta leads the Dodgers by two games for the best record in the NL, and holds the tiebreaker over Los Angeles by winning five of their seven head-to-head games. Starting with Sept. 2, each of the last 10 days has had the same result for both teams: win, win, loss, off day, loss, loss, loss, win, win, loss.

Pirates 7, Rangers 5: A three-game sweep in Arlington was just what the doctor ordered for Pittsburgh, who rebounded from a four-game losing streak to remain one game behind St. Louis in the NL Central and two games up on Cincinnati for the first wild card position.

Reds 6, Cubs 0: Cincinnati jumped all over Jeff Samardzija to snap a two-game losing streak and remain in strong position for at least the second wild card spot.

Nationals 3, Mets 0: Washington's "too little, too late" tour saw a fifth straight win on Wednesday as Ryan Zimmerman homered and Dan Haren pitched six scoreless innings.

Phillies 4, Padres 2: Jimmy Rollins and Freddy Galvis homered, and Cliff Lee pitched eight strong innings to lead Philadelphia to the win, which officially knocked San Diego out of the NL West race.

Thursday features off days for Arizona and Cincinnati, while old friends start in morning contests. Nathan Eovaldi starts against the Braves in Miami, while Aaron Harang makes his Mets debut against the Nationals at Citi Field. Here is a look at relevant games on Thursday (all times PT):

• 9:40 a.m. - Atlanta (Freddy Garcia) at Miami (Nathan Eovaldi)
• 10:10 a.m. - Washington (Tanner Roark) at New York (Aaron Harang)
• 4:05 p.m. - Pittsburgh (Jeff Locke) at Chicago (Chris Rusin)
• 4:05 p.m. - San Diego (Tyson Ross) at Philadelphia (Roy Halladay)
• 5:15 p.m. - Milwaukee (Tyler Thornburg) at St. Louis (Joe Kelly)
• 7:10 p.m. - San Francisco (Matt Cain) at Dodgers (Zack Greinke)

More from True Blue LA:

• Diamondbacks 4, Dodgers 1: Home clinching plans on hold
• Onelki Garcia called up by Dodgers
• Scott Van Slyke, Chris Withrow, Dee Gordon & the Dodgers playoff roster
• Kirk Gibson reflects on his home run: 'I believed in it'
• Don Mattingly optimistic Matt Kemp will play again this season
• Dodgers 2014 schedule