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We’re only 13 games away from wrapping up the 2015 regular season campaign and three of the top teams in the N.L. Central currently hold the best records in all of baseball.
According to CSN Chicago, their power rankings consist of the St. Louis Cardinals topping the list, the Pittsburgh Pirates coming and second and the Chicago Cubs jumping ahead of the Kansas City Royals for the No. 3 spot.
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With the Cubs welcoming in the Milwaukee Brewers for a three-game set before an off-day on Thursday, they are currently trailing the second place Pirates by only two games after falling to the Cardinals on Sunday.
While the N.L. Central appears to be a powerful force pushing towards the postseason, the Royals are the only American League team with a winning percentage of .584.
In fact, they are tied with the Cubs for the third best record in all of baseball with an 87-62 mark entering today. Kansas City will begin a home series with the Seattle Mariners in town — a club Theo Epstein made multiple trades with this season.
Chicago will find themselves in another key postseason battle this weekend when they meet up with the Pirates for the final time at Wrigley Field before they wrap up the home stand against the Royals next Monday.
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A six-game road trip to both Cincinnati and Milwaukee will close out the season.
Mike Matheny and the Redbirds return to Busch Stadium for a three-game set with the Reds before Milwaukee visits them for a four-game weekend set that will have Michael Wacha taking the mound on Thursday opposite Taylor Jungmann.
There’s still time to pass up the Pirates for the top spot in the N.L. Wild Card race, but it would be nice if the Cubs didn’t have to worry about getting through the Bucs or Cardinals in a one-game playoff on Oct. 7th.
They currently trail St. Louis by six games in the division and could cut that number down if Anthony Rizzo and company are able to complete a sweep of Milwaukee.
Jason Hammel takes the mound later on this evening with their magic number still at five.