The Chicago Cubs shutting out the St. Louis Cardinals clinched them the playoff spot, with Jon Lester and Anthony Rizzo doing most of the work, allowed the New York Mets and the San Francisco Giants to remain at the top of the National League Wild Card Standings despite both of them losing. In the AL East, the Boston Red Sox still lead despite losing to a Mark Trumbo home run for the Baltimore Orioles. The Toronto Blue Jays also lost, putting them behind the O’s in the playoff standings, with the Seattle Mariners (hottest team in the majors) and the New York Yankees (losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers) right behind them.

Tampa Bay Rays 8  Toronto Blue Jays 1: The Rays once again cause chaos, dropping the Blue Jays behind the Orioles, although still in the wild card spot. Corey Dickerson and Kevin Kiermaier both hit two-run homers while Alex Cobb allowed only 2 hits in his 6.2 innings start, as the Blue Jays fall for the second time in a row.

Chicago Cubs 7  St. Louis Cardinals 0: A tremendous performance by the Cubs, with Jon Lester striking out 8 while allowing only 3 hits, and Anthony Rizzo hitting a couple of home runs (3 RBIs, 31 season home runs) to keep their division rivals out of the wild card 2 spot. The Cubs clinch the playoff spot with 17 games left to play.

San Diego Padres 3  San Francisco Giants 1: The Padres complete a stunning sweep of the Giants, who still hold a wild card spot, but could end up with nothing. Luis Perdomo did a very good job, allowing only 4 hits and striking out 5, and Yangervis Solarte with the opening run made it to 68 RBIs this season.

Los Angeles Dodgers 2  New York Yankees 0: The Dodgers open a 5 game lead over the Giants, while the Yankees fall to 2 games behind in the wild card playoff race, managing only 3 this against a returning Clayton Kershaw and company. The Dodgers saved their runs for the finish, as Justin Turner hit an RBI single in the 9th, followed by a throwing error from Dellin Betances allowing him to score a run himself.

New York Mets 0  Washington Nationals 1: Tanner Roark struck out 7 while giving up 3 hits in 7 innings, as the Mets loss didn’t drop them from the wild card playoff spot thanks to the Cardinals losing as well.

Baltimore Orioles 1  Boston Red Sox 0: Kevin Gausman and Rick Porcello both did a terrific job in their duel, allowing only 4 hits in 8 innings. However, Porcello gave up a home run to Mark Trumbo in the 2nd inning, while the Red Sox got nothing out of their offense.

Pittsburgh Pirates 2  Philadelphia Phillies 6: Tommy Joseph and Freddy Galvis both hit their 19th home runs of the season, as the Pirates keep sinking, and the Phillies look more and more like a team that’s in the right direction.

Minnesota Twins 6  Detroit Tigers 9: The Tigers are one game behind the Blue Jays in the wild card standings, enjoying Miguel Cabrera’s 33rd home run of the season, while Ian Kinsler had 4 hits and 3 RBIs.

Miami Marlins 7  Atlanta Braves 5: Jose Fernandez earned the win despite a less than stellar performance, and a ball nearly hitting him when he was batting caused the benches to clear. In the end, Marcell Ozuna hitting a 3-run homer and following that up with a sacrifice fly put the Marlins ahead for good.

Milwaukee Brewers 7  Cincinnati Reds 0: Junior Guerra pitched 6 innings in the shutout, while home runs from Scooter Gennett and Domingo Santana (3-run homer) made the difference on offense.

Oakland Athletics 8  Kansas City Royals 0: The Royals won’t be making the playoffs like that, dropping their third in a row to the A’s. Marcus Semien and Yonder Alonso both had 2-RBI doubles to lead the way, while Sean Manaea led the way on the mound.

Cleveland Indians 6  Chicago White Sox 1: Great job from Josh Tomlin in his 5-inning start, while Coco Crisp hit a 3-run homer to add something which hasn’t happened much since his arrival from Oakland.

Texas Rangers 4  Houston Astros 8: Probably not enough for the Astros to really join in the wild card playoff chase, being 3.5 games behind and three teams between them. George Springer hit his 27th home run of the season and Joe Musgrove earned the win while striking out 7 in 6.1 innings of work.

Colorado Rockies 6  Arizona Diamondbacks 11: A third straight win for the Diamondbacks, with two home runs by Jean Segura, who had 5 hits on the day. Chris Owings hit a home run too, and so did a very hot right now Brandon Drury.

Seattle Mariners 2  Los Angeles Angels 1: The 8th straight win for the Mariners, putting them only 1.5 games behind the Blue Jays. Hisashi Iwakuma did the work from the mound, while solo home runs from Kyler Seager and Nelson Cruz brought the offense necessary.

American League Standings

American League East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Boston Red Sox	81	64	0.559	—	42–32	39–32
Baltimore Orioles	80	65	0.552	1	45–25	35–40
Toronto Blue Jays	79	66	0.545	2	42–32	37–34
New York Yankees	77	68	0.531	4	44–31	33–37
Tampa Bay Rays	62	83	0.428	19	35–40	27–43

American League Central	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cleveland Indians	84	61	0.579	—	47–25	37–36
Detroit Tigers	78	67	0.538	6	42–31	36–36
Kansas City Royals	74	71	0.510	10	42–28	32–43
Chicago White Sox	70	75	0.483	14	40–33	30–42
Minnesota Twins	54	92	0.370	30½	29–46	25–46

American League West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Texas Rangers	87	60	0.592	—	47–22	40–38
Seattle Mariners	78	68	0.534	8½	40–31	38–37
Houston Astros	76	70	0.521	10½	41–33	35–37
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	63	82	0.434	23	33–38	30–44
Oakland Athletics	63	82	0.434	23	33–42	30–40

National League Standings

National League East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Washington Nationals	87	59	0.596	—	46–28	41–31
New York Mets	77	69	0.527	10	38–33	39–36
Miami Marlins	73	73	0.500	14	36–35	37–38
Philadelphia Phillies	65	81	0.445	22	32–40	33–41
Atlanta Braves	56	90	0.384	31	24–48	32–42

National League Central	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Chicago Cubs	93	52	0.641	—	51–20	42–32
St. Louis Cardinals	76	69	0.524	17	33–41	43–28
Pittsburgh Pirates	70	74	0.486	22½	36–38	34–36
Milwaukee Brewers	65	81	0.445	28½	39–36	26–45
Cincinnati Reds	62	83	0.428	31	36–38	26–45

National League West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Los Angeles Dodgers	82	63	0.566	—	47–27	35–36
San Francisco Giants	77	68	0.531	5	38–33	39–35
Colorado Rockies	69	77	0.473	13½	37–35	32–42
San Diego Padres	62	84	0.425	20½	33–38	29–46
Arizona Diamondbacks	61	84	0.421	21	28–46	33–38

Wild Card Standings

AL Wild Card teams (Top 2 qualify for 1-game playoff)	W	L	Pct.	GB
Baltimore Orioles	80	65	0.552	+1
Toronto Blue Jays	79	66	0.545	—
Detroit Tigers	78	67	0.538	1
Seattle Mariners	78	68	0.534	1½
New York Yankees	77	68	0.531	2
Houston Astros	76	70	0.521	3½
Kansas City Royals	74	71	0.510	5
Chicago White Sox	70	75	0.483	9
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	63	82	0.434	16
Oakland Athletics	63	82	0.434	16
Tampa Bay Rays	62	83	0.428	17
Minnesota Twins	54	92	0.370	25½

NL Wild Card teams (Top 2 qualify for 1-game playoff)	W	L	Pct.	GB
San Francisco Giants	77	68	0.531	+½
New York Mets	77	69	0.527	—
St. Louis Cardinals	76	69	0.524	½
Miami Marlins	73	73	0.500	4
Pittsburgh Pirates	70	74	0.486	6
Colorado Rockies	69	77	0.473	8
Milwaukee Brewers	65	81	0.445	12
Philadelphia Phillies	65	81	0.445	12
Cincinnati Reds	62	83	0.428	14½
San Diego Padres	62	84	0.425	15
Arizona Diamondbacks	61	84	0.421	15½
Atlanta Braves	56	90	0.384	21

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