Since I am on the road starting tomorrow and the games today are over thought I would post this this evening.
The Cardinals won and the Reds and Pirates lost. As we head into the final 3 games there are still things to be decided. The Reds have been eliminated from the division title race. The Pirates can still tie the Cardinals if they win their last 3 games while the Cardinals lose their last 3. Cardinals play the Cubs in St. Louis so they are very unlikely to lose 3 in row.
The task for the Pirates and Reds is very simple, the team that wins 2 of the 3 games wins the 1st wild card position and gets the home game in the wild card play-in. In essence the Reds and Pirates have a 4 game series with 3 in Cincinnati and the 4th either in Cincinnati or Pittsburgh.
Had the Pirates won today they would only have had to win 1 of the last 3 but they missed that chance. The reason they have to win 2 games is because if the Pirates win 1 game they will have the same record as the Reds but by winning 2 games the Reds will win the season series 10-9 and get home field in a tie.
Friday the Pirates start Burnett and the Reds start Bailey. Saturday the Pirates start Morton and the Reds start Arroyo. Scheduled to start Sunday are Cole for the Pirates and Cueto for the Reds. If Pirates or Reds win the first 2 games of the series the Sunday game becomes meaningless and pitchers could change. If they split the first 2 games the Sunday game will be for home field in the wild card game.