NL Central (Ted Savage Division):

Chicago reclaimed first place in the division as Milwaukee had the day off. The Cubs scored four runs in the first and beat Houston 6-2 at Minute Maid Park.

Two red teams played each other in the afternoon.

Chicago will be in St. Louis to play four games in three days with a doubleheader Saturday. Milwaukee will host Cincinnati for three games. And some people will be watching the Pirates play in Houston. The Astros are tied with Florida for the worst record in the NL.

NL West (Steve Finley Divsion):

Arizona had a productive day off as second place San Diego lost in Los Angeles 6-3. Arizona's lead in the division is now four games. The magic number to clinch the division is 13 and 11 to clinch a playoff spot. The Dodgers are 5 1/2 games back.

The Rockies fell to 6 1/2 games back of the DBacks as the Phillies routed them at Citizens Bank Park, 12-4. The Rockies used eight pitchers and the Phillies used seven.

Arizona will be at Los Angeles for the weekend, San Francisco will be at San Diego, and the Rockies will be home to play Florida.

NL East (Rico Brogna Division):

The Phillies were the only team that played and they are 5 1/2 games out. The Mets magic number to clinch the division remained at 11.

The Phillies will play the Mets for the last time this season over the weekend at Shea Stadium. Atlanta will be at Washington for the weekend. The Nats will need to run the table to avoid being mathematically eliminated and then hope for a lot of other things to happen.

NL Wild Card (Andy Ashby Division):

San Diego's lead was cut to 1 1/2 games over the Dodgers and Phillies. The Rockies are 3 1/2 games back.

Tomorrow's games with postseason implications:

Jamie Moyer (Philadelphia) vs Tom Glavine (New York), Tom Shearn (Cincinnati) vs Ben Sheets (Milwaukee), Carlos Zambrano (Chicago) vs Adam Wainwright (St. Louis), Dontrelle Willis (Florida) vs Josh Fogg (Colorado), Barry Zito (San Francisco) vs Tall Chris Young (San Diego), Doug Davis (Arizona) vs Brad Penny (Los Angeles)

AL West (John Montague Division):

The Angels forgot something about playing the Orioles. You need to score at least one run to beat them. Jon Leicester, James Hoey, Chad Bradford, and Jamie Walker combined on a 3-0 shutout of the Angels. Their lead is 8 1/2 games, their magic number for the division is 9.

Seattle won two games in a row for the first time since August 23-24 with a 5-run rally in the eighth against the Devil Rays for an 8-7 win. Ryan Rowland-Smith added a win to go along with his hyphen.

Oakland strengthed its hold on third place with a win over Texas. Texas is now eliminated from the AL West race, but not the wild card.

AL East (Pee-Wee Wanninger Division):

Boston didn't play, but the Sox magic number for winning the division dropped to 11. The magic number to clinch a playoff spot is 7. The magic number to clinch the best record in the league is 13. (The Red Sox only have to tie the Angels to get the #1 seed.)

Yankee starting pitcher Ian Kennedy gave up just one hit in seven innings in Toronto, but that was an RBI double for Frank Thomas. Thomas singled home Armando Rios with the winning run in the ninth for a 2-1 Jays win. The Yankees are 5 1/2 games behind the Red Sox. Did you know they were playing each other this weekend?

The Orioles will be in Toronto in an avian battle.

AL Central (Vito Valentinetti Division):

I thought Midwesterners were an industrious lot unlike us people who live on the coasts. But they're not. The whole division took the day off.

First place Cleveland (magic number 11 and lead of 5 1/2 games) has Kansas City coming to town. Second place Detroit will be in Minnesota. And what about the last place White Sox? They get to have the Angels visit.

AL Wild Card (Dave Collins Division):

The Yankees lead Detroit by 3 1/2 games for the wild card.

Tomorrow's games with postseason implications:

Brian Bannister (Kansas City) vs C.C. Sabathia (Cleveland), Andy Pettitte (New York) vs Daisuke Matsuzaka (Boston), Nate Robertson (Detroit) vs Matt Garza (Minnesota), Bartolo Colon (Los Angeles) vs Jose Contreras (Chicago), James Shields (Tampa Bay) vs Felix Hernandez (Seattle)