NL Playoff Standings 2020: Latest Wild-Card Info, Team Records and More

The National League Central has a chance to place four teams in the postseason.

The Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers currently sit in the two wild-card positions after the Philadelphia Phillies dropped both games of a doubleheader to the Washington Nationals Tuesday. 

Cincinnati and Milwaukee lead a collection of four teams that are separated by one game in the win column. The New York Mets and Colorado Rockies are further down the standings and need a ton of help to get into the postseason. 

Since four teams are in close proximity of each other, the race for both wild-card positions is expected to come down to the final day of the regular season.

NL Wild-Card Standings

7. Cincinnati (28-28)

8. Milwaukee (27-27)

9. San Francisco (27-27)

10. Philadelphia (27-29)

11. New York Mets (25-30)

12. Colorado (24-30)

The Brewers and Reds split the first two games of their three-game series, but due to Philadelphia falling apart at Nationals Park, they both moved up in the wild-card race. 

Brett Anderson tossed a six-inning gem against Sonny Gray to give Milwaukee the upper hand Tuesday night. 

Cincinnati took the first game Monday behind a terrific pitching performance from Luis Castillo.

The Reds appear to have the advantage in Wednesday's contest with Trevor Bauer making a start on short rest. 

If Cincinnati gets into the eight-team playoff field, it could be the most dangerous squad since it has three tremendous starters in Castillo, Gray and Bauer.

In his last start, Bauer conceded two earned runs and five hits to the Chicago White Sox, and he also recorded his lowest strikeout tally of the season with five. 

Bauer is 1-1 against Milwaukee with 20 strikeouts and five runs allowed from a pair of August starts. 

Milwaukee is countering with Adrian Houser. He allowed four earned runs off nine hits in an August 27 start versus the Reds and has not made it past the fifth inning in his last five appearances.

After Wednesday, the Reds have a day off before visiting the Minnesota Twins for a three-game set. 

Milwaukee's schedule is more congested since it has five games left with the St. Louis Cardinals, including a Friday doubleheader.

If the Brewers beat Bauer Wednesday and win the series with St. Louis, they could sneak into second place in the NL Central behind the Chicago Cubs. The Cardinals currently sit at 27-25. 

All of the NL Central teams should not feel threatened by the Phillies, who have lost four in a row and dropped a significant advantage they had over the other teams in the wild-card race. 

According to The Athletic's Jayson Stark, the Phillies have gone from holding every tiebreaker to being behind every team except Milwaukee and San Francisco on division record. 

Things could get worse for the Phillies in that regard since the Brewers have the five-game set with St. Louis, and San Francisco has six contests remaining in the NL West.

The Giants used a Tuesday win to further distance themselves from the Colorado Rockies, and they could eliminate their division rival from the wild-card hunt with wins Wednesday and Thursday. 

San Francisco finishes with four games against San Diego, two of which occur in a doubleheader Friday at Oracle Park. 

Philadelphia resides in the same position as Cincinnati with three games remaining after Wednesday. The Phillies visit the Tampa Bay Rays for a weekend set, but before they can worry about other teams around them, they have to reverse their losing ways as soon as possible.

The Mets and Rockies are still technically alive in the wild-card race, but they both would have to win out and need a lot of losses from the four teams above them to make a run at a postseason spot over the weekend.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.

Statistics obtained from MLB.com.