There were only four night games but here's everything you need to know from the night's MLB action.

Thursday's scores

Indians' magic number is seven

He might not be the most valuable player on the Indians right now, but there are still several weeks left of play and shortstop Francisco Lindor is on the short list of top candidates for the AL MVP. He had quite the day on Thursday. Hoo boy what a big day for the numbers.

Lindor went 4 for 5 with two homers, four RBI and three runs scored. He's hitting .288/.362/.535 with 40 doubles, 33 homers, 84 RBI, 117 runs and 22 steals in addition to his stellar defense at a premium position.

Here is his second homer: 

The Indians' win pushes them to 80-60 and their magic number is now just seven to clinch their third-straight AL Central crown. 

Braves get much-needed win

The Braves really had to sweat this one out but, boy, did they need it. Not necessarily for the standings, because even a loss would've meant they still had a 2 1/2 game lead over a reeling Phillies team in the NL East. Instead, likely for their only psyche, it just felt like they needed this one, especially the way it went down.

See, the Braves came into Thursday having lost six of their last eight, including an all-time gut-punch on Wednesday, in which they blew a 7-1, eighth-inning lead to the Red Sox. 

Sure enough, when it was 4-0 Braves through the top of the fourth -- a two-run, Kurt Suzuki homer was a big help -- and the Diamondbacks scored three in the bottom of the fourth, those feelings had to resurface at least a little bit. 

When it was 5-3 heading to the bottom of the eighth and Paul Goldschmidt led off with a double, those feelings had to resurface. He would score, but that was it in the eighth for Arizona. 

Two usual suspects took care of some all-important insurance with two outs in the ninth. Freddie Freeman doubled down the left-field line and then Nick Markakis singled him home. That was important because, after the D-Backs scored a run earlier in the inning, MVP candidate Goldschmidt did this to tie it: 

Here we go again, right? 

Nope. 

The Braves were relentless. After two outs, Dansby Swanson found a hole for a single. Tyler Flowers would do the same (it looked like Swanson might score, but he had to circle back to third, as he appeared to miss the base). Ronald Acuna would draw a hard-fought walk before Swanson would score on a wild pitch during Ender Inciarte's at-bat. 

In all, what a game. The schedule was light on Thursday, but there was great drama in the this one and the Cubs-Nats. 

The Braves now have a 3 1/2 game lead in the NL East and it seems a pretty strong bet we'll see them in the postseason for the first time since 2013. 

Meantime, the D-Backs are now 2 1/2 back in the NL West and three back from the second NL wild card. 

Cubs gain ground with comeback, extra-inning win

With both the Brewers and Cardinals idle, the Cubs had a chance to bump up their decent-sized lead in the NL Central and they did just that, though it wasn't easy. There were some fireworks early, such as Javier Baez with some baserunning we're getting used to seeing from him: 

And then Mark Reynolds clubbing a go-ahead home run for the Nationals. It wasn't cheap: 

It was 4-3 Nationals heading to the eighth, but the Cubs scratched one across with a Kris Bryant single, Albert Almora single (Bryant got to third with excellent baserunning, as the Cubs are wont to do) and a Willson Contreras fielder's choice grounder. 

Speaking of Almora, he would double with one out in the 10th inning to set up a clutch, go-ahead double by -- let's call him the Nats Killer -- David Bote: 

Let's circle back to the bottom of the eighth to give Cubs reliever Justin Wilson credit. He entered with runners on second and third, one out and the game was tied. He would strike Reynolds out and coax a Wilmer Difo flyout to left. Two huge outs there. 

The Cubs now lead the Brewers by 4 1/2 games and the Cardinals by five in the NL Central. 

Rowdy makes history

In 2013, the Blue Jays drafted a kid by the name of Ryan John Tellez in the 30th round out of high school. The kid known as Rowdy Tellez made his big-league debut Wednesday and doubled. He's run the streak to three straight, starting off Thursday with two more doubles in his first-ever MLB start. If that sounds like a big deal, it is: 

Hey, how can you not root for someone going by Rowdy? Excellent work from the rookie. 

Padres flash future promise? 

The Padres have a stocked farm system and look forward to contending here in the near future. They already have some talented young players in the majors too, such as outfielder Hunter Renfroe, who clubbed his 20th homer of the season in Thursday night's win in Cincy. The bigger story here, however, was that of catcher Francisco Mejia. 

Mejia was the piece coming back to the Padres in the Brad Hand-to-Indians deal and was also the top-ranked catching prospect in baseball. He made his first start as a Padre Thursday and made it count by clubbing the first two home runs of his career: 

Two down, lots and lots to go? That's the plan in San Diego. 

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