The NL playoff situation can best be described as "murky." One team was eliminated, but seven teams are still fighting for four spots and it may not be decided until Sunday. Or Monday. Or Tuesday.

And there won't be a five-way tie. Nate Silver explains at Baseball Prospectus.

NL East (Rico Brogna Division):

Shea Stadium, New York - The St. Louis Cardinals, in town for just one day to make up a rainout from June, send Joel Pineiro to the hill to face off against Pedro Martinez.

St. Louis scored a run in the first and then two in the third. Pineiro gave up just three hits in eight innings and Jason Isringhausen pitched a 1-2-3 ninth and the Cardinals won 3-0.

Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia - The Phillies scored four runs in the first against John Smoltz thanks to two errors and a Ryan Howard homer. The Phillies won 6-4 to move into a tie for first place. The Braves were eliminated and Ryan Howard struck out for a major league record 196th time.

The Mets will play three games at home against Florida. The Phillies will host Washington for three games.

NL Central (Ted Savage Division):

The Cubs lost their tenth straight game to the Marlins over the past two years, losing 6-4 at Dolphins Stadium.

But the Brewers couldn't make up any ground for the second straight game. They lost to the Padres 9-5 as they made five errors.

Chicago has a magic number of 2 and become the first NL team to clinch a playoff spot Friday if they beat the Reds in Cincinnati and the Brewers lose at home to San Diego.

Houston caught the Reds for fourth place in the division with a 4-3 win in Cincinnati.

NL West (Steve Finley Division):

Coming down to the final weekend, there are still three teams that could win the division.

First place Arizona, thanks to Micah Owings 4 for 4 day with 3 doubles, beat Pittsburgh 8-0.

The DBacks have a magic number of 3 and a one-game lead over San Diego.

Colorado won its 11th straight game with a 10-4 win in Los Angeles. Colorado returns home Friday to face Arizona to finish the regular season.

NL Wild Card (Desi Relaford Division):

The Mets are now part of the wild card discussion. San Diego leads three teams, Philadelphia, New York, and Colorado, by one game.

Friday's pitching matchups of interest:

Tim Redding (Washington) vs Cole Hamels (Philadelphia), Carlos Zambrano (Chicago) vs Bronson Arroyo (Cincinnati), Byung-Hyun Kim (Florida) vs Oliver Perez (New York), Brandon Webb (Arizona) vs Jeff Francis (Colorado), Greg Maddux (San Diego) vs Chris Capuano (Milwaukee)

AL East/Wild Card (Ramiro Mendoza Division):

The Red Sox missed a chance to drop its magic number for the division to 1 and lost to the Twins at home, 5-4. Joe Nathan pitched out of trouble in the eighth and ninth for the save.

Yankee manager Joe Torre sent out most of his reserves at Tropicana Field, but the Yankees won anwyay, 3-1. Jose Molina drove in the winning runs. Scott Kazmir struck out 10 Yankees to give him 239 for the season, four more than Johan Santana. With Santana not scheduled to start again this year, Kazmir should finish on top in the league.

Baltimore beat Toronto.

AL Central (Bob Feller Division):

Cleveland missed another chance to guarantee homefield advantage for at least round of the ALDS after losing to Seattle 4-2. The game ended when Kenji Johjima picked Grady Sizemore off of first base. George Sherrill became the first pitcher since Randy Flores back in 2002 to get a save by having a runner picked off to end the game and not retiring a batter.

The White Sox shut out the Royals on three hits for the second straight night.

AL West (Tim Salmon Division):

The Angels finish up in Oakland. Texas finishes up at Seattle.

The Angels will likely need a sweep to get a shot at getting homefield advantage in the ALDS.

Friday's pitching matchups for games that affect where teams get slotted:

Kevin Slowey (Minnesota) vs Daisuke Matsuzaka (Boston), Mike Mussina (New York) vs Jon Leicester (Baltimore), C.C. Sabathia (Cleveland) vs Kyle Davies (Kansas City), John Lackey (Los Angeles) vs Dan Haren (Oakland).