The Cincinnati Reds’ win tonight over the Washington Nationals brought their record to 66-66, making them a .500 team for the first time since the beginning of July. At just 2.5 games back on the second place St. Louis Cardinals, the Reds are the team in the division with the most hope of overtaking the team in front of them.

At 13 games back on the first place Milwaukee Brewers and 12.5 games back on the NL wild card, hope for the postseason is something we just won’t talk about for the moment.

At least, not with regards to Cincinnati. But I’m perfectly willing to talk about how the Houston Astros have been eliminated from postseason contention for about a week now, and the Chicago Cubs have a magic number of just 7, making it difficult but not impossible for them to be eliminated from winning the NLC before September. Hurricane Irene may save them the distinction of being eliminated from the wild card in that time frame.

Here in Indy, the minor league season has almost wrapped up, and the populous is making the transition to football. Myself, I want to cling to baseball for as long as I can, lest another summer slip away too fast. No need for another season to slip away too fast.