With the St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers winning their Sunday contests, the Cardinals’ magic number to clinch the second National League wild card is down to two.
Below is the updated table of possible outcomes the rest of the way. The Cardinals entertain the NL Central-winning Reds in the final three while the Dodgers are at home against the NL West-winning Giants.
St. Louis will be starting Jaime Garcia on Monday and Chris Carpenter on Tuesday. Wednesday is Adam Wainwright’s turn, but he has not yet been announced as the starter, as that choice will be made based on whether or not the team has clinched.
As described in detail here, if the Cards and Dodgers end the regular season tied, they would play an elimination game on Thursday in Los Angeles. The winner of that contest will face the first wild card winner on the road on Friday. That will most likely be Atlanta.
| Final 3 games | Record | Record | Outcome | ||
| Cardinals | 3-0 or 2-1 | Dodgers | any | Cards take wild card | |
| Cardinals | 1-2 | Dodgers | 3-0 | Wild card tie | |
| Dodgers | any other | Cards take wild card | |||
| Cardinals | 0-3 | Dodgers | 3-0 | Dodgers take wild card | |
| Dodgers | 2-1 | Wild card tie | |||
| Dodgers | 1-2 or 0-3 | Cards take wild card |
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