Let’s take a quick look at the race toward first place in the NL Central in Thursday’s key games!

In Milwaukee, the Brewers completed the sweep against the Marlins, 5-3, through the powerful bats of Prince Fielder and Bill Hall. It was one of that games for the Brewers in which everything seemed to go smoothly. When Florida scored, Milwaukee was able to bounce back and score as well. Meanwhile, Dave Bush was pitching a great game and Trevor Hoffman notched his third save in as many days. The Brewers are shocking the NL Central with their play of late, having won 17 of their last 22 games.

In Chicago, the Cubbies took it to the Padres, 11-4, in a blow out. Big  innings in the fifth and sixth, matched with Ryan Dempster’s superb outing allowed the Cubs to complete the sweep of the Padres, who have lost 11 in a row on the road. The Cubs displayed patience and timely hitting, with 10 drawn walks on the day, which basically handed them the win.

Cubs Win

In Pittsburgh, the Cardinals avoided a sweep from the Pirates with a 5-1 victory. Lucky for the Cards, Pittsburgh was completely unclutch and left 10 men on base. Cardinals SP Mitchell Boggs allowed 9 hits in only 4 1/3 innings, but only gave up one run. The big hit for the Cards came from rookie Colby Rasmus, who is doing an ample job filling in for the injured OFs Rick Ankiel and Ryan Ludwick, when he hit a BOMB to right field. It ended up bouncing into the Allegheny River, which is no chip shot I might add. The bullpen came through for the Cards tonight, who were able to maintain their tie for first.

That's right Colby, second homer of season

The NL Central is proving to be one of the most competitive divisions in baseball with four teams with records of 20-14 or better. Going into the weekend, the Brewers visit St. Louis, which should be a good matchup of first place teams. Also, the Cubs and Reds are only a ½ game out of first, so don’t expect anyone to pull away this weekend!