Standings through 9/22

It almost certainly is "too little, too late" but the three remaining combatants are making this end game as interesting as possible. Houston keeps beating the Pirates, while the Rockies and Cubs keep losing. If the Astros lose on Sunday and the Cubs win, this becomes a two-team race... but those are big ifs, and in this topsy-turvy world of September baseball, nobody is celebrating their draft position just yet.

Team	W	L	GB
Houston	50	102	0
Colorado	58	93	-8.5
Chicago Cubs	59	93	-9

Houston's magic number: 3

Eliminated from contention:

1. Washington, 8/23/12
2. Cincinnati, 8/25/12
3. Texas, 8/26/12
4. Atlanta, 8/28/12
   NY Yankees, 8/28/12
5. San Francisco, 8/29/12
6. Baltimore, 8/30/12
   Chicago Sox, 8/30/12
   Oakland, 8/30/12
7. Tampa Bay, 8/31/12
   St. Louis, 8/31/12
8. LA Dodgers, 9/1/12
   LA Angels, 9/1/12
   Detroit, 9/1/12
9. Pittsburgh, 9/2/12 
10. Arizona, 9/5/12 
11. Milwaukee, 9/7/12
12. Seattle, 9/8/12
    Philadelphia, 9/8/12
13. San Diego, 9/10/12
14. NY Mets, 9/12/12
    Kansas City, 9/12/12
15. Toronto, 9/13/12 
16. Miami, 9/14/12
    Boston, 9/14/12
17. Minnesota, 9/19/12 
18. Cleveland, 9/20/12

Today's key games:

• Pittsburgh at Houston
• St. Louis at Chicago Cubs
• Arizona at Colorado