Phillies, Cubs and Dodgers lead tight NL Division races

May 21, 2025 by Dave Congrove, CollegeFootballPoll.com

No division lead on the senior circuit is anywhere close to safe as we head into the Memorial Day weekend. The Philadelphia Phillies have a mere 1.5-game edge on the New York Mets in the East, while the Chicago Cubs are only two clear of the St. Louis Cardinals in the Central, and the Dodgers are a single game ahead of the Giants in the West.

Today's Major League slate of games include a 12:35 (ET) first pitch in Pittsburgh against the Cincinnati Reds. Last night, the Pirates snapped a four-game losing streak by taking game two of the series, 1-0, behind seven scoreless innings from Bailey Falter. In the month of May, Falter hasn't faltered at all as he's registered a 0.38 ERA over 23-2/3 innings.

Bryan Reynolds singled-in Connor Joe with 1 out in the 6th inning for what proved to be the only score needed.

The win was a rarity for Pittsburgh as the Bucs are languishing in last-place in the NL East with a 16-33 record and trail the division-leading Cubs by 13 games. Even worse, the Pirates are 8 behind the closest team on their ladder as the 4th-place Brew Crew are 24-25.

That's just one of many day games on the slate for Wednesday, May 21. At 1:10, the Miami Marlins host the Cubs and the Tampa Bay Rays entertain the Houston Astros. Five minutes later, the Cardinals and Detroit Tigers get underway in St. Louis.

At 2:10, the Seattle Mariners take the field at the Chicago White Sox while the Kansas City Royals and the Giants clash in San Francisco at 3:45 at Oracle Park on the bay.

In Cleveland, the Guardians face the hot Minnesota Twins who had their 13-game winning streak snapped at the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday. That contest gets started at 4:10. Interestingly, the last time a team had a 12-game winning streak in consecutive seasons, Cleveland turned the trick in 2016-17.

After that one gets underway, we commence the evening schedule that features the New York Mets at the Boston Red Sox at 6:45. The Washington Nationals will also throw the first pitch to the Atlanta Braves at 6:45.

At 7:05, the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers will meet in the Bronx and, two minutes later, the Blue Jays and San Diego Padres will start game two of their three-game set in Toronto.

The Colorado Rockies (8-40) will try to get their ninth win of the year, and just their sixth at home, when they face the Phillies in an 8:40 start. Colorado is 1-7 in its last 8 games. This will be game three of their four-game series in which the Phillies have a 2-0 lead.

The Athletics host the Los Angeles Angels at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento at 10:05, while the last game to get underway finds Los Angeles hosting the Arizona Diamondbacks in a rubber match at Dodger Stadium in Chavez Ravine.

Source for this article includes:
Falter continues stellar May with 'electric' start against Reds