Cubs, Brewers, Phillies all lose

The Cubs' magic number is now down to 1, but not because of anything spectacular they did yesterday. They let the Cardinals jump out to an 11-0 lead before they scored any runs and ended up losing 12-6. The Brewers also got hammered, letting the Reds run all over them in an 11-2 rout. This is good news for the Cubs because it means they only need to win one more game to clinch the NL Central. Or, if the Brewers lose one more game, they won't have to win at all. The Cubs play St. Louis again this afternoon at Wrigley, and I sure hope they win. It would really be anticlimactic for them to clinch the division title with a loss.

The Phillies lost to the Marlins 14-8 last night. I listened to a little bit of the game on the radio before falling asleep. Florida scored 6 runs in the bottom of the 5th to break things open. The Mets won their game, so now the Phils are relegated to second place in the NL East. The good news is that since the Brewers are struggling, the Phillies are in good shape to win the wild card if they can't beat the Mets.