National League wild card standings: Here come the Cardinals

The Dodgers last week improved their standing in the National League West, but still find themselves still in position to host the wild card game. The jumble of teams angling to play them appears to be clearing up, thanks to a surge by the Cardinals.

With two weeks and 12 games remaining on the schedule, there’s still time for the Dodgers to win their ninth straight divisional title. They trail the Giants by one game, with 12 to play.

NL West standings

Giants 97-53 (.647) ---
Dodgers 96-54 (.640) 1 GB

This wee the Dodgers finish up the road portion of their schedule with trips to Denver and Phoenix. The Giants are also away from home and play the Rockies in Colorado, but first they battle the Padres for three games in San Diego.

Los Angeles and San Francisco have the same off days the rest of the way — each of the last two Mondays.

St. Louis began last week a game behind both the Reds and Padres in the wild card race, but the Cardinals just keep winning. They swept the Mets and swept the Padres last week. St. Louis has won eight straight, and dating back to the final two games of their series against the Dodgers, the Cardinals have won 10 of 11, and have a decent lead now on the second wild card spot.

NL wild card standings

Dodgers 96-54 (.640) +16
Cardinals 79-69 (.534) ---
Braves 77-70 (.524) 1½ GB*
Reds 77-73 (.513) 3 GB
Phillies 76-73 (.510) 3½ GB
Padres 76-73 (.510) 3½ GB

*I included the Braves in this list even though they currently lead the National League East, because they and the Phillies are only separated by two games, though are three apart in the loss column.

St. Louis hits the road this week, battling the division-leading Brewers before heading to Wrigley Field.

The NL wild card game will be played on Wednesday, October 6, either in Los Angeles or San Francisco. The game will be televised by TBS.