With a little over a week left in the regular season, there's going to be plenty of games with playoff implications. We'll be paying close attention to today's games in St. Louis, Queens, D.C. and Minneapolis. For now, here's everything you need to know from Sunday's MLB action.

Select games can be streamed regionally via fuboTV (Try for free). For more on what channel each game is on, click here.

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Baseball scores for Sunday, September 15

Braun slams Cardinals in 9th

Give the Brewers credit. The Christian Yelich injury could've been the death knell for a team that's hovered around .500 much of the season. Rather than wilt, the Brewers have won four of five games since Yelich's injury, and Sunday afternoon Ryan Braun provided the biggest hit of the team's season.

The Cardinals took a 4-3 lead into the ninth inning of Sunday's rubber game, but with closer Carlos Martinez down with a respiratory issue, manager Mike Shildt was forced to turn to his second tier relievers to close out the game. It didn't go well. John Gant and Julian Fernandez made a mess of things, leading to Braun's two-out, two-strike, go-ahead grand slam. To the action footage:

In terms of win probability added, or WPA, the Braun grand slam increased Milwaukee's chances of winning the game an incredible 73.9 percent. It was the fifth biggest hit of the season in baseball in terms of WPA:

  1. Rio Ruiz, Orioles: Walk-off homer vs. Astros on August 11 (0.89 WPA)
  2. Matt Chapman, Athletics: Walk-off homer vs. Rays on June 20 (0.85 WPA)
  3. Russell Martin, Dodgers: Walk-off single vs. Cardinals on August 7 (0.76 WPA)
  4. Joe Panik, Giants: Walk-off single vs. Braves on May 21 (0.76 WPA)
  5. Ryan Braun, Brewers: Go-ahead grand slam vs. Cardinals on September 15 (0.74 WPA)

Furthermore, Braun's grand slam was the 232nd home run for the Brewers this season. That is a new franchise record. The record was previously held by the 2007 club.

Following Sunday's games the Cardinals hold a two-game lead over the Cubs in the NL Central. The Brewers are three games back. Also, the Cubs sit in the second wild-card spot with a one-game lead over Milwaukee. Chicago is 1 1/2 games behind the Nationals for the top wild-card spot.

Suarez hits 46th and 47th home runs

The home run race is alive and well. Coming into Sunday's action, Mets rookie Pete Alonso led baseball with 47 home runs. There is now a tie atop the homer leaderboard. Reds slugger Eugenio Suarez clubbed his 46th and 47th homers of the year against the D-Backs on Sunday.

In addition to tying Alonso atop the MLB home run leaderboard, Suarez also tied the single-season home run record among players born in Venezuela. Andres Galarraga, the Big Cat, hit 47 home runs with the 1996 Rockies. Galarraga (1998), Richard Hidalgo (2000), and Miguel Cabrera (2012 and 2013) all had 44-homer seasons, tied for third most among Venezuelan-born players.

The all-time record is 17 players with 40 home runs, set in 1996. There are currently 18 players with at least 35 home runs this season. With two weeks left in the season, there's an outside chance we see a record number of 40-homer hitters in 2019.

Mets waste Wheeler's gem

Alternatively: Dodgers take advantage of shaky Mets bullpen. 

To be fair, Seth Lugo has been really good this season, but he wasn't overly sharp pitching on the second of back-to-back days, and Jedd Gyorko beat him with a two-out, two-strike, go-ahead single in the top of the ninth Sunday night. Enrique Hernandez doubled earlier in the inning to set that run up.

Zack Wheeler was marvelous Sunday -- so was Walker Buehler, for that matter -- holding the Dodgers to one run in seven innings. He struck out nine. Justin Wilson, who has also been really good this year (especially lately), blew the 2-1 lead in the eighth with a walk, a balk, a wild pitch, and a double. Wheeler's gem went for naught.

The Mets dropped two of three to Los Angeles this weekend and they are now four games behind the second wild-card spot with 13 games to play. They have to win out to have a chance, basically, and they'll need other teams to help out and beat the Cubs (and Brewers). A tall order, that is.

Cubs set new franchise series scoring record

What a weekend for the Cubs. They bludgeoned the Pirates 17-8 on Friday and 14-1 on Saturday, then, on Sunday, they finished the sweep with a 16-6 win. Kris Bryant hit two homers in the win.

The Cubs scored double-digit runs in three straight games for the first time since, well, a four-game streak last year. Also, the 47 runs are a new franchise record for a single series, and the second most ever by a National League team in a three-game series:

  1. 1901 Brooklyn Superbas: 50 runs vs. Reds
  2. 2019 Chicago Cubs: 47 runs vs. Pirates
  3. 1950 Brooklyn Dodgers: 47 runs vs. Pirates
  4. 1930 Chicago Cubs: 44 runs vs. Phillies

"Superbas" is an all-time great old-timey baseball name. Right up there with the Brooklyn Tip-Tops, the Pittsburgh Burghers, and the Wilmington Quicksteps.

Yankees' Betances, Montgomery make their season debuts

The Yankees may have lost to the Blue Jays on Sunday (TOR 6, NYY 4), but at least, they gained back some players from their absurdly long injured list. Reliever Dellin Betances and starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery both made their respective returns to the mound during Sunday's game. Montgomery made his 2019 debut after undergoing Tommy John surgery last year, and Betances made his 2019 debut after dealing with multiple shoulder and lat injuries over the past few months. Here's the final numbers for both pitchers:

player headshot
Dellin Betances
LAD • RP
IP.2
H0
R0
K2
BB0
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player headshot
Jordan Montgomery
ARI • SP • #52
IP2.0
H4
R3
BB0
K2
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Montgomery allowed three runs and four hits in two innings, while reaching a velocity in the low 90 mph range. He threw 26 of 41 pitches for strikes. Meanwhile, Betances faced two Toronto batters, throwing seven of eight pitches for strikes.

Nat avoid sweep, Sanchez blanks Braves

The Washington Nationals prevented a three-game sweep, behind Anibal Sanchez's seven scoreless innings, beating the NL East's first-place Braves, 7-0 on Sunday. Sanchez (9-8) gave up just three hits and a walk while striking out three and not allowing a runner past second base in his seven innings of work.

Sunday's win was Washington's 82nd on the season, and the club has now had a winning record in eight consecutive seasons. But, the Nats have struggled against the Braves this season. They finish the season series 8-11 against Atlanta.

Stat of the day: Cubs' Bryant sets a franchise HR record

Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant continued his hot streak during Sunday's game against the Pirates. He hit two home runs, a three-run homer in the first inning followed by a solo shot in the third inning. With the two homers, Bryant's season total is now 31. More importantly, Bryant sets a new franchise record for most home runs in the first five years of his career with a total of 137 homers.

Another noteworthy milestone for the 27-year-old:

Over the past six games, Bryant is slashing .524/.560/.1.238 in 25 plate appearances, and Chicago might need Bryant to continue to produce like this after Anthony Rizzo left the game vs. the Pirates with a sprained ankle. The Cubs currently hold a one-game lead over the Brewers for the final NL wild card spot.

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