A quick rundown of games from today’s NL action involving the leading teams.

Nats 4, Cardinals 3 – Stephen Strasburg went 6 scoreless against the Redbirds, who mounted a comeback immediately Strasburg made his departure. But, the Nats restored their lead for good with back-to-back 2-out RBI singles in the 8th off loser Lance Lynn, making his 3rd relief appearance since his removal from the starting rotation. Strasburg is now at 156.1 IP with two more starts promised before the much anticipated season shutdown, or rather the anticipation of whether that shutdown will actually happen.

• The Nats  have been in first place since May 22nd and are currently enjoying almost their largest lead of the season (it was a half-game more after play on Aug 21). What do you think – can they hang on after Strasburg takes a seat about the time the NFL kicks off?
• The Cardinals went 3-7 on a tough road swing through Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and D.C. They need to turn it around quick, and the Mets and Brewers on the home menu this week may be just the ticket.

Braves 8, Phillies 7 – The Braves kept pace with the Nats and put a stop to their 3 game skid. But, it took a miracle finish to make it happen. With the Braves trailing by 4 starting the home 9th, Jonathan Papelbon entered the game with Pavlovian predictability with 1 out, 2 on and, therefore, the tying run in the on deck circle and thus a save opportunity. His appearance led Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez to call on journeyman Lyle Overbay to pinch-hit for his just announced pinch-hitter, Dan Uggla. If you aren’t a close follower of the Braves and are wondering about that move, Uggla has been in one ugly slump, now approaching 3 months, going .157/.295/.271 in 275 PA since June 11th. If that makes the move to Overbay more understandable, it also begs the question of why use Uggla to pinch-hit in the first place. But, I digress. After the over-matched Overbay predictably whiffed in his Braves debut, Papelbon imploded, yielding a walk to load the bases and then surrendering a 2-run double to Martin Prado followed by a walk-off 3 run HR by the ageless Chipper Jones.

• This was only the second time in Papelbon’s career (the first was in 2007) to enter a game with 2 or more inherited runners and leave with both a blown save and a loss. And, it’s his first game ever allowing a total of 5 runs (his own plus inherited runners) scoring.

Dodgers 5, Diamondbacks 4 – Speaking of walk-off wins, Adrian Gonzalez did the honors for LA, with a 2-run double to make a winner of Ronald Belisario. Since returning to the NL, Gonzalez is only 8 for 38, but he’s made them count with 8 RBI.

• Since they were last in first place (Aug 19), the Dodgers have gone only 5-8 and are in danger of losing contact with the front-running Giants. They’ll need to ratchet it up soon to avoid a possible wild card crapshoot (if they make it that far). But, the schedule maker isn’t cooperating – the Padres and Giants, both on 10-3 runs, are up next.

Giants 7, Cubs 5 – Matt Cain was uncharacteristically ordinary, allowing all the Cub runs in 5 innings of work. But, his teammates picked him up, capping their comeback with back-to-back RBI singles in the 9th, cashing two earlier walks, as Carlos Marmol took the loss, his first since June 4th, also against the Giants.

• This was Cain’s first game of the year allowing 5 or more runs in 5 innings or less, and only his 6th such game since 2009, compared to 13 like outings up to 2008.
• The Giants have the opportunity to “make hay while the sun shines”, with 9 more against Arizona and 7 against Colorado the rest of the way.

Brewers 12, Pirates 8 – After 25 hits and 20 runs through the first 6 innings, there was only one more hit combined the rest of the way as the bullpens settled things down for both clubs. John Axford logged the save for the Brewers after being “set up” by teammate Manny Parra, who converted a 4-run lead into a save opportunity starting the 9th inning.

• Pittsburgh, still hanging on in the wild card race, continued their summer swoon, now 10-19 since Aug 3rd. Pirate pitching has allowed 5 or more runs in 17 of those games (including 10 games in a row Aug 7-16), but also has 4 team shutouts in that span. The offense has been similarly Jekyll and Hyde, being shut out 4 times and scoring 5 or more on 11 occasions.
• Relative to their wild card rivals, the Pirates may catch a break with 13 more games against the Cubs and Astros, plus 4 against the Mets.

Reds 5, Astros 3 – Bud Norris had a 6 inning, 6 strikeout performance allowing no runs, just 3 hits and only one walk. And, the Astro offense added 2 runs in the 7th to extend the lead to 3-0.  But, it wasn’t enough as the Reds scored all their runs in an 8th inning rally highlighted by a Jay Bruce 3-run homer off loser Xavier Cedeno. Aroldis Chapman dismissed the Astros in order, fanning two for his 34th save.

• In a dismal season, Norris has been something off a bright spot, with 8 quality starts in his last 11 outings since July 5th. But, Norris is 0-6 and the team 1-10 in those games.
• Under the heading “Why I’ll never like the Hold statistic”, Hector Ambriz notched one for this effort: 3 batters faced, 1 retired, 1 hit and 1 walk, with both of those runners scoring on Bruce’s homer. Nothing against Ambriz, but can’t there be some minimum hold requirement like maybe retiring at least as many batters as you allow to reach base.