Much like last season, the race for the National League Wild Card is likely going to come down to the wire. Sunday's 5-2 victory for the St. Louis Cardinals in 12 innings in Los Angeles proved to be a critical one, as the Cards regained a slim lead for the second wild card spot with 15 games to play.
The Atlanta Braves have a comfortable seven game lead for the top wild card spot in the National League, but the second spot is a dogfight with six teams withing 4.5 games. St. Louis is ahead of the Dodgers by one after Sunday's win. The charging Brewers have passed slumping Pittsburgh to move within 2.5 of the second wild card spot. The Pirates are three games behind St. Louis but are just 2-8 in their last 10.
Philadelphia (four games back) and Arizona (4.5 back) are also int he race with San Diego at the edge six games behind.
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