By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

We take our monthly look at how the playoffs would shake down if the season ended today.

National League

San Francisco-Philadelphia: The Phillies have opened a solid lead in the NL Wild Card. The Phillies are doing it with pitching. They are second in the NL in pitching. San Francisco pitches well, too. With Barry Bonds and Jim Thome, this would be an interesting series.

Atlanta-Houston: Two great lineups. The Astros bullpen is ideally set up for the postseason. But Houston has never got it done with this group in the playoffs. You could argue that Atlanta hasn't, either.

American League

New York-Kansas City: This looks like one of the great mismatches. That may play in the Royals favor. No pressure, nothing to lose. But the Yankees are probably just too good. And with the trading deadline approaching, they could get better.

Seattle-Boston: The Mariners have come back to the field. The A's could catch them or earn the Wild Card. The Red Sox probably have the best offense in baseball, and they have Pedro Martinez.