Good Morning! You can see the highlights from an awesome Monday Night Football game between the Lions and Ravens here. But I’m here today to talk about one thing and one thing only; the MLB regular season ends on Sunday. Here’s what’s at stake:

PLAYOFF PICTURE

Six teams in each league make the playoffs. The top two division winners earn a first-round bye, while the third division winner and top wild card team host a best-of-three series in round one.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

CLINCHED PLAYOFF SPOT: Toronto Blue Jays

DIVISION LEADERS (“Magic Number” is the combined number of wins plus trailing team losses that are needed to win the division)

WILD CARD (“Magic Number” is the combined number of wins plus trailing team losses that are needed to make the playoffs)

Technically the Texas Rangers (79-77) and Kansas City Royals (78-78) have not been mathematically eliminated

NATIONAL LEAGUE

CLINCHED DIVISION: Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Phillies

CLINCHED PLAYOFF SPOT: Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres

DIVISION LEADERS (“Magic Number” is the combined number of wins plus trailing team losses that are needed to win the division)

WILD CARD (“Magic Number” is the combined number of wins plus trailing team losses that are needed to make the playoffs)

Technically the St. Louis Cardinals (77-80), San Francisco Giants (77-80) and Miami Marlins (76-80) have not been mathematically eliminated

TEAM-BY-TEAM

AMERICAN LEAGUE

TORONTO BLUE JAYS- clinched: Toronto leads the AL East by two games over the Yankees. They lead the Mariners by three games for the number one seed. A lot left to play for, but the important part has already been decided: the Blue Jays are back in the playoffs.

NEW YORK YANKEES: They stumbled for a bit late in the summer, but the Yanks are playing great ball again down the stretch. They can clinch a playoff spot with a win today, but you know the Bronx Bombers have their sights set on catching Toronto atop the AL East.

BOSTON RED SOX: Boston is right in the thick of the AL Wild Card race, but they control their own destiny. It’ll be tough for the Red Sox, however, as they play all six of their remaining games against other teams on this list.

SEATTLE MARINERS: This team is on fire! The Mariners have won nine of their last 10 games and surged past Houston for the lead in the AL West. A Seattle win today and a Yankees win will clinch a playoff spot for the M’s.

HOUSTON ASTROS: Suddenly the Astros are on the outside looking in. Tied with Cleveland for the final AL Wild Card spot and trailing Seattle by three games in the AL West, the Astros need to outplay their competition this week– Houston loses in all relevant tiebreaker scenarios.

DETROIT TIGERS: They led the AL Central by 6.5 games just last week, but the best team in the first half has fallen back to the pack. That’s what happens when you lose nine of your last 10 games. Detroit’s playoffs start today as they head to Cleveland for the biggest three-game series of the year. Tarik Skubal will be on the mound to get things started.

CLEVELAND GUARDIANS: They’re still alive! Not only that, Cleveland can’t be stopped. Their 10-game win streak ended on Sunday but it brought the Guardians back into the mix. The path to October is pretty simple from here on out: keep winning.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

MILWAUKEE BREWERS- clinched NL Central: The Brew Crew has the best record in baseball. They can clinch the number one seed in the National League as early as tomorrow.

CHICAGO CUBS- clinched: The important part is done for the Cubbies, who are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2020. A few more wins and they’ll get to host the first round at Wrigley… talk about an electric playoff atmosphere.

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES- clinched NL EAST: The Phillies can lock up a first-round bye as early as today. The goal right now for Philly fans is to enjoy more Kyle Schwarber home runs and line up their stellar rotation for another deep October run.

LOS ANGELES DODGERS- clinched: It hasn’t been the dominant season we all expected from LA, but they are still in a position to defend their World Series title. The Dodgers hold the tiebreaker over San Diego and only need a few more wins to wrap up yet another NL West title. Then the real season starts for Shohei and the gang.

SAN DIEGO PADRES- clinched: The Padres clinched a playoff spot late last night with a dramatic walk-off win against the Brewers. No one is worried about anything else this morning in San Diego- time to celebrate!

CINCINNATI REDS: They’ve hung around all season long, and now the Reds are in playoff position. They own the tiebreaker against the Mets and Diamondbacks. They play the eliminated Pittsburgh Pirates and potentially already clinched number one seed Milwaukee Brewers. Everything has lined up: it’s win-and-in for a Red October.

NEW YORK METS: There’s not much else to say about the Amazin’s, who have completely fallen apart. But there’s good news for New York, even after this incredible collapse: they’re still alive, and they still have Juan Soto. It’s not going to be as easy as we all thought a few months ago, but the playoffs are very much still in play for the Mets.

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS: It’s pretty crazy that the Diamondbacks are in this conversation, given the amount of talent they traded away at the deadline. Nevertheless, Arizona is very much alive in the NL Wild Card race, with games this weekend against LA and San Diego. Don’t count them out.

KEY SERIES

TIGERS @ GUARDIANS, Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday

RED SOX @ BLUE JAYS, Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday

METS @ CUBS, Tuesday (7:40 PM on TBS)-Wednesday (8 PM on ESPN)-Thursday

DODGERS @ DIAMONDBACKS, Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday

TIGERS @ RED SOX, Friday (7:10 PM on AppleTV+)-Saturday-Sunday

RANGERS @ GUARDIANS, Friday-Saturday (7:15 PM on Fox)-Sunday

DIAMONDBACKS @ PADRES, Friday-Saturday-Sunday

DODGERS @ MARINERS, Friday-Saturday-Sunday

So there you go! All set for a sprint to the finish line. October, here we come…