Standings through 9/6

Three teams face elimination on Friday. The Cubs try to stay close to the relentless Astros. What will happen next in this scintillating race?

Team	W	L	GB
Houston	42	95	0
Chicago Cubs	51	86	-9
Minnesota	56	81	-14
Colorado	56	80	-14.5
Cleveland	58	79	-16
Miami	61	77	-18.5
Kansas City	61	76	-19
Toronto	61	75	-19.5
Boston	63	75	-20.5
San Diego	64	74	-21.5
NY Mets	65	72	-23
Philadelphia	66	71	-24
Seattle	67	71	-24.5
Milwaukee	67	70	-25

Houston's magic number: 17

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

Today's key games:

• Hou at Cin
• ChN at Pit 
• Cle at Min
• Col at Phi (Philadelphia is eliminated with a win and a Houston loss)
• Mil at StL (Milwaukee is eliminated with a win) 
• Oak at Sea (Seattle is eliminated with a win)