The Cardinals defeat the Giants 5-2 and the Cubs down the Brewers 9-5 to bring the NL Wild Card and NL Central that much closer. The Giants and Cardinals end up splitting their four game series, leaving St. Louis where they started, 1/2 game behind the Giants for the best of the second place records. It also puts them in a virtual tie with Milwaukee, and three games separate the top five teams in the NL Central. Nine teams are within four games of the wild card. With so many teams in the race, it’s going to be tough to find sellers at the trade deadline, which should really help teams like Oakland and San Diego.

The Seattle defeats the Yankees 8-4 and the White Sox down the Royals 4-1, making the AL Wild Card race tighter as well. Seven teams are within five games of the Wild Card lead, and for a change all three divisions have at least three teams within striking distance of first place. This is shaping up to be a very exciting second half.