National League Standings: Dodgers Now 2 GB Of Cardinals

Runs are still at a premium for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who dropped their fourth straight game on Thursday night, a 2-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. The loss dealt a blow to the Dodgers' fledgling playoff hopes.

The National League West is essentially done, as the Giants gained a game on Thursday without even playing.

The Dodgers' loss to St. Louis gave San Francisco its biggest lead of the season and pushed its magic number to just 12 to clinch their second division title in four years.

The Dodgers lost the opener of a four-game weekend series at home to the Cardinals, who remain ahead of them in the race for the second National League wild card.

The Cardinals gained a half-game over the idle Pirates as well, as St. Louis now leads Pittsburgh by three games.

The idle Brewers lost a half-game as well, but the Cardinals gained a full game over the Philadelphia Phillies, who managed to give one away in Houston.

A two-run double by Jed Lowrie in the eighth inning on Wednesday turned the tide for the Houston Astros, who pulled out a 6-4 win over the Phillies. The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak for Philadelphia, who dropped to four games back of the Cardinals.

Here are Friday's relevant games (all times PT):

• 11:20 a.m. - Pirates (James McDonald; 12-7, 3.93 ERA) at Chicago Cubs (Chris Rusin; 0-2, 5.73)
• 4:35 p.m. - Washington Nationals (Ross, Detwiler; 9-6, 3.23) at Braves (Kris Medlen; 8-1, 1.64)
• 5:05 p.m. - Phillies (Cole Hamels; 14-6, 3.03) at Astros (Edgar Gonzalez; 2-0, 1.64)
• 5:10 p.m. - New York Mets (Jon Niese; 10-9, 3.47) at Brewers (Mike Fiers; 9-7, 3.05)
• 6:40 p.m. - Giants (Matt Cain; 13-5, 2.96) at Arizona Diamondbacks (Tyler Skaggs; 1-1, 4.43)
• 7:10 p.m. - Cardinals (Joe Kelly; 5-6, 3.51) at Dodgers (Chris Capuano; 11-10, 3.59)

For more news and notes on Dodgers baseball, be sure to read True Blue LA.