As usual, it's a relatively light Monday slate in MLB, but postseason implications abound nonetheless. Let's dig in ... 

Final scores

Yankees 2, Twins 1 (box score)
Phillies 4, Dodgers 3 (box score)
Brewers 3, Pirates 0 (box score)
Red Sox 10, Orioles 8 in 11 (box score)
Athletics 8, Tigers 3 (box score)
Marlins 13, Mets 1 (box score)
Padres 4, Diamondbacks 2 (box score)

Yanks beat Twins in October preview

In a potential AL Wild Card Game preview, the Yankees beat the Twins by a 2-1 score.

While the Twins likely found the loss annoying enough, it probably didn't help that the Yankees got a strong start from Jaime Garcia, whom the Twins traded to the Yankees after he made just one start with the Twins. Garcia struck out nine batters across 5 2/3 innings, during which he allowed a run on four hits.

The Yankees got mileage from David Robertson and Aroldis Chapman, with the pair combining for three innings and four strikeouts. That duo overshadowed an otherwise spotty appearance from Dellin Betances -- he walked two of the four batters he faced and hit another with a pitch. Woof.

Aaron Judge hit his 44th home run of the season, and another trade deadline acquisition, Todd Frazier, supplied the other run via sacrifice fly. 

Brewers gain ground

With the Cubs off on Monday, the Brewers took advantage of their chance to cut into their four-game deficit in the NL Central race, topping the Pirates by a 3-0 score.

Starter Brent Suter threw five shutout innings, mystifying the Pirates thanks to his deceptive delivery and ability to change speeds. Manager Craig Counsell didn't push his luck too hard, however, and instead went to his bullpen -- tapping four relievers to preserve the shutout. Rookie Josh Hader had the most notable appearance of the bunch, fanning three batters in 1 2/3 innings. Offensively, the Brewers saw Ryan Braun, Neil Walker, and Travis Shaw each drive in a run.

The Brewers are now 3 1/2 games back of the Cubs. Milwaukee will play two more games in Pittsburgh before heading home to host the Cubs in a pivotal four-game set.

Kershaw yields first grand slam

Clayton Kershaw did something on Monday night he'd never done before -- it wasn't good, either. Rather, Kershaw allowed his first career grand slam.

With the Dodgers beating the Phillies by a 2-0 score, Aaron Altherr crushed a 1-1 hanging slider to give the Phillies a two-run lead. The home run was of the no-doubt variety:

That's Altherr's second career grand slam, by the way. While each is memorable in its own way, Altherr's is memorable for really special reasons. Consider that earlier in the month, he hit an inside-the-park grand slam against the Nationals. Now this. 

Fortune seems to favor Altherr. 

Olson continues tear, ties McGwire

If you haven't heard much about Athletics slugger Matt Olson, then just think of him as the West Coast version of Rhys Hoskins.

On Monday, Olson homered for the 22nd time in 54 games, and the 14th time in his last 20. Impressive? You bet. In fact, Olson tied Mark McGwire for the most home runs hit over an Athletics' first 65 career games:

Olson is going to finish the season having played in fewer than half the A's games. Nonetheless, he has a chance to rank second on the team in home runs, behind only Khris Davis. (Right now, Olson is three homers away from second-place Ryon Healy, and two away from Matt Joyce.) Olson has already homered as many times as Yonder Alonso did. The A's, of course, opened up a spot in the lineup for Olson by trading Alonso to the Mariners. 

That looks like a smart move in multiple ways.  

Stanton wallops No. 55

The talk surrounding Giancarlo Stanton's home-run pace has quieted down recently, as he has cooled off from his torrid pace. Stanton entered the day having homered only three times in September. He added a fourth on Monday, thanks to a hanging Matt Harvey breaking ball.

The Marlins have 12 games remaining after Monday night, so Stanton will have to up his recent tempo if he's going to surpass Roger Maris' 61-homer mark. He has virtually no shot at dethroning Barry Bonds as the single-season home-run king. He is, however, all but guaranteed to end the year as the big-league leader -- second-place Aaron Judge sits 11 homers behind.

If Stanton does get to 60, he'll be the first player to reach that mark since 2001 (Bonds and Sammy Sosa).

Quick hits