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Wild-card analysis
THE FIELD: Florida, Philadelphia, Montreal, Houston, St. Louis, Chicago, Los Angeles and Arizona.

By mid-September, surely some of the eight teams now in contention will be winnowed from the race, but for now, this is the most crowded wild-card race since the idea was introduced in 1995.

On paper, the Cubs would seem to have the easiest go of it. They play just eight of their last 27 games against winning teams, but the Cubs also have two scheduled doubleheaders, which could pose problems for their pitching staff.

On the subject of pitching, don't forget to factor in trips to Colorado -- three wild-card contenders (Los Angeles, Arizona and Houston) make visits to Coors Field, where teams can run through much of their staffs in a three-game series.

Two division leaders -- Atlanta and San Francisco -- have nearly wrapped up their respective divisions and will likely officially do so long before the final weekend of the series. Games against the Braves and Giants, then, may not be as tough as they would appear, since both teams could be resting regulars and putting their post-season pitching plans in order.

PHILADELPHIA:

Games remaining: 25
Home games: 15
Road games: 10
Games against teams with winning records: 15
Remaining off-days: 2
Makeup game: Sept. 1, Boston (Red Sox win 13-9)
Scheduling quirk: Nine of the last 12 games are at home.
Biggest series: Sept. 23-25, at Florida.
Easiest stretch: Sept. 4-7, four-game home series with New York.
Toughest stretch: Sept. 23-28, three-game series at Florida, followed by three-game homestand with Atlanta.

FLORIDA:

Games remaining: 25
Home games: 12
Road games: 13
Games against teams with winning records: 15
Remaining off-days: 2
Makeup games: 0
Scheduling quirk: After Sept. 4, every remaining game is against NL East opponents.
Biggest series: Sept. 23-25, Philadelphia.
Easiest stretch: Sept. 26-28, final series of season home with New York Toughest stretch: Sept. 12-22, a 12-game stretch of home-and-home series with Atlanta and Philadelphia.

MONTREAL:

Games remaining: 23
Home games (Montreal): 6
Home games (San Juan): 6
Road games: 11
Games against teams with winning records: 13
Remaining off-days: 4
Makeup games: 0
Scheduling quirk: The Expos have four off-days remaining, the most of any team.
Biggest series: Sept. 5-7, Florida at San Juan.
Easiest stretch: Sept. 12-21, seven games against New York.
Toughest stretch: Sept. 1-11, nine straight games against contenders, all away from Montreal (six of which are in San Juan).

ARIZONA:

Games remaining: 25
Home games: 10
Road games: 15
Games against teams with winning records: 14
Remaining off-days: 2
Makeup game: Sept. 4 at Kansas City.
Scheduling quirk: The Diamondbacks are one of just two NL teams playing an interleague game in September.
Biggest series: Sept. 16-18, at Los Angeles.
Easiest stretch: Sept. 19-25, at Milwaukee for three, home with Colorado for three.
Toughest stretch: Sept. 1-7, a four-city stretch that has the D-Backs playing the Giants at home, going to San Diego for two, flying to Kansas City for a makeup game, then returning to the West Coast for three at San Francisco.

LOS ANGELES:

Games remaining: 26
Home games: 11
Road games: 15
Games against teams with winning records: 14
Remaining off-days: 2
Makeup game: Sept. 26 at San Francisco (day-night doubleheader).
Scheduling quirk: The Dodgers play their last eight games on the road.
Biggest series: Sept. 8-11, at Arizona.
Easiest stretch: Sept. 12-14, home with San Diego.
Toughest stretch: Sept. 16-21, six game homestand against Arizona and San Francisco.

NL Central analysis
THE FIELD: Houston, St. Louis, Chicago.

The race within the wild-card race involves three teams within 2½ games of one another -- the Astros, Cards and Cubs.

A critical series for the division title kicks off the month with the Cards and Cubs meeting in Wrigley for a five-game series (thanks to a rainout makeup from earlier in the season).

Curiously, the Astros will play almost half of their September games outside the division, which, depending on their vantage point, could make their task easier or tougher.

The Astros also have the toughest road-home split.

ST. LOUIS:

Games remaining: 25
Home games: 13
Road games: 12
Games against teams with winning records: 13
Remaining off-days: 3
Makeup game: Sept 2., at Chicago.
Scheduling quirk: The Cards have two off-days in the last week of the season.
Biggest series: Sept. 19-21, Houston.
Easiest stretch: Sept. 5-11, Cincinnati and Colorado at home.
Toughest stretch: Sept. 26-28, at Arizona.

HOUSTON:

Games remaining: 25
Home games: 10
Road games: 15
Games against teams with winning records: 11
Remaining off-days: 2
Makeup games: 0
Scheduling quirk: Nearly half of the Astros' remaining games are against NL West opponents.
Biggest series: Sept. 19-21 at St. Louis.
Easiest stretch: Sept. 5-11, at San Diego, Milwaukee.
Toughest stretch: Sept. 19-25, at St. Louis, home with San Francisco.

CHICAGO:

Games remaining: 26
Home games: 13
Road games: 13
Games against teams with winning records: 7
Remaining off-days: 3
Makeup games: 2 -- Sept. 2, St. Louis; Sept. 19, at Pittsburgh.
Scheduling quirk: The Cubs have more makeup games than any team in contention.
Biggest series: Sept. 1-4, five-game series at home with St. Louis.
Easiest stretch: Sept. 12-17, home with Cincinnati and New York.
Toughest stretch: Sept. 5-11, at Milwaukee, at Montreal (San Juan).

Sean McAdam of the Providence (R.I.) Journal covers baseball for ESPN.com.