Sunday brought us a full slate of 15 MLB games. Let's dive in to our recap of the day in baseball, shall we?

Final scores

Phillies 3, Marlins 1 in 12 innings (box score)
Indians 11, Tigers 1 (box score)
Pirates 3, Reds 1 (box score)
Orioles 5, Blue Jays 4 in 12 innings (box score)
Brewers 7, Nationals 2 (box score)
Royals 5, Twins 4 (box score)
Astros 8, Mets 6 (box score)
White Sox 6, Rays 2 (box score)
Braves 5, Cubs 1 (box score)
Rangers 7, Angels 6 (box score)
Diamondbacks 5, Rockies 1 (box score)
Cardinals 7, Giants 3 (box score)
Mariners 10, Athletics 2 (box score)
Padres 6, Dodgers 4 (box score)
Yankees 9, Red Sox 2 (box score)

Rockies' wild card lead continues to dwindle

The Diamondbacks are red hot and that was bad news for the Rockies this weekend. Arizona swept the Rockies in Coors Field and they've now opened a 6 1/2 game lead for the top wild-card spot. The D-Backs have won 10 straight games. The Rockies have lost four straight.

Of course, Colorado's issues extend beyond this weekend. The Rockies are 20-25 in the second half and have seen their lead for the second wild-card spot shrink to a 1/2 game -- 1/2 game! -- over the surging Brewers. The Rockies had a 5 1/2 game lead over the Brewers as recently as Aug. 5. That lead has been all but erased.

Sadly, the Rockies and Brewers do not have any head-to-head games remaining this season. Those would've been fun. After this weekend, the Rockies have to forget all about the D-Backs and the top wild-card spot. They have to focus on holding off the Brewers, otherwise what once looked like a dream season is going to end in disappointment.

Ramirez goes off as Tribe wins 11th straight

As you see above, the Indians on Sunday dominated the Tigers, and in doing so won their 11th straight game. The Tribe now boasts a run differential of +179, which is second only to that of the Dodgers, and they remain within close range of the Astros in the race for top overall seed in the AL. 

Central to Sunday's win was third baseman Jose Ramirez. Check out his honest day's work: 

player headshot
Jose Ramirez
CLE • 3B • #11
vs. DET, 9/3
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H5
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We've already made note of his two Tiger-aided homers, and here's the weirdest of those ... 

Anyhow, those two home runs account for just 40 percent of Ramirez's extra-base hits on the day. Speaking of which ... 

Ramirez became the 10th player in history with five extra-base hits in a single game Sunday, and for those counting, Ramirez now leads all of MLB with 75 extra-base hits. Stealth AL MVP candidate? Ramirez is a plus fielder at the hot corner, he adds value on the bases, and he's now batting .310/.362/.554 with 22 homers and 47 doubles. Jose Altuve is still the favorite at this writing, but Ramirez, who was top 10 in the AL in WAR coming into Sunday, is very much in the discussion. 

More importantly, the Indians on Sunday reduced their magic number in the AL Central to 19. 

The Brewers have made it through a rough stretch of schedule

The Brewers blanked the Nationals on Sunday and in doing so took three of four from one of the best teams in the NL. That's significant in and of itself, and it's also significant in a larger sense. With that win, the Brewers wrapped up a 15-game stretch that saw them play a nine-game road swing out west (including six games against the Diamondbacks and Dodgers) and then play six against the Cardinals and Nats. Compounding matters is the fact that the Cubs, over a similar stretch, played the Reds, Blue Jays, Phillies, Pirates, and Braves -- losing teams all. Going into that run, the Brewers were two games behind the Cubs in the NL Central. Coming out the other side, they're 3 1/2 games back. Yes, that's worse, but it constitutes pretty good survival skills on the part of Milwaukee, given the schedule disparities. They're closer in the race for the second NL wild-card berth, but they're still very much in range of the Cubs. 

Moving forward, the Brewers will play 15 games against losing teams and three against the .500-ish Cardinals and otherwise get seven head-to-head cracks at the Cubs. Given the schedule, the Brewers could've very easily carved out an impossible situation for themselves in recent days. By instead going 9-6 over that span, they very much kept their postseason hopes alive.

Correa returns to Astros

On Sunday, the Astros got a much-needed shot in the arm when franchise cornerstone Carlos Correa returned from the disabled list. He batted cleanup and manned his usual shortstop. Correa missed the last 42 games because of a torn thumb ligament in his left hand -- an injury that required surgery. On Sunday, he resumed an age-22 campaign that's seen him bat .320/.400/.566 (165 OPS+) with 20 homers in 84 games. That's outstanding production for anyone, let alone a shortstop. 

Correa went 1 for 3 with a walk in his team's win over the Mets, and his return was needed. While the Astros have an all-but insurmountable lead in the AL West, the Indians' recent surge has put Houston in danger of ceding the top overall seed in the AL. In related matters, this is a team that went 20-22 while Correa was hurt. Speaking of which ... 

It's too simplistic to say the Astros are that much worse without Correa in the lineup, but there's no doubt they missed him badly. He has about a month now to get back up to speed and shake off any rust from the 42-game layoff.

Speaking of Correa and other welcome additions to the Houston roster, please regard this intersection of incoming superstars: 

Things are looking up for the Astros. 

Donaldson positioning himself as offseason trade candidate

Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson has been limited to 93 games played this season thanks to a calf strain. He hit well after returning, but Donaldson then endured a prolonged slump around mid-season -- as recently as late July, he had an OPS south of .800. Then, however, Donaldson batted .289/.421/.711 in August and had kept it up thus far in September. Speaking of which, here's what he did against the Orioles on Sunday:

Yes, a little oppo power from the Bringer of Rain. That was Donaldson's 25th homer of the season, and for 2017 he's now batting a more characteristic .260/.384/.534. Given that Donaldson's Jays don't have a particularly encouraging near-term outlook, it seems possible that they'll look to trade him this coming offseason. On that front, here's Nick Cafardo from his must-read Sunday Baseball Notes column ... 

Remember when Donaldson used to be willing to dive into the stands? There are times now when he doesn't run out balls to first base, and it's been noticed. Don't be shocked if the Jays listen to offers for him this offseason.

So there's some shade baked in there, but the point is that the Jays sound like they're ready to part ways with their franchise third baseman. Donaldson's got one more year of team control before he hits free agency, and given the way he's been going at the plate he should elicit plenty of interest this winter. 

O's come back late for clutch win

Despite Donaldson's heroics, the Blue Jays could not hold a one-run ninth inning lead Sunday. Closer Roberto Osuna blew the save when Welington Castillo blasted a game-tying solo home run in the ninth. It was his second dinger of the afternoon.

The O's went on to win the game in 12 innings on Mark Trumbo's walk-off double. Baltimore's bullpen held the Blue Jays to one run in eighth innings after Chris Tillman went four-and-fly.

With the win, the Orioles are now tied with the Angels in the standings and 1 1/2 games behind the Twins for the second wild-card spot. The O's will host the wild card-leading Yankees this coming week, giving them a chance to make up a lot of ground in a short period of time.

Bellinger sets Dodgers rookie home-run record

The Dodgers lost yet again Sunday -- they've now lost eight of their last nine games, if you can believe that -- though rookie sensation Cody Bellinger did make things interesting with his ninth-inning home run against tough lefty Brad Hand. Here's the video:

That was home run No. 36 of the season for Bellinger, breaking Mike Piazza's franchise record for a rookie. Here is the franchise's single-season home run leaderboard among rookie eligible players:

  1. 2017 Cody Bellinger: 36 and counting
  2. 1993 Mike Piazza: 35
  3. 2016 Corey Seager: 26
  4. 2015 Joc Pederson: 26

Pederson has 36 home runs and Yankees slugger Aaron Judge has 37 home runs this season. It's the first time in baseball history two rookies have hit 35-plus home runs in the same season.

The Dodgers, by the way, have lost three straight series for the first time since 2014, and are now on pace for "merely" 110 wins this season. They were on pace for 116 wins prior to this little 1-8 stretch.

Twins let a lead slip away against Royals

Thanks to a molten-hot August, the Twins are sitting in the second wild-card spot and have a chance to go to the postseason for the first time since 2010. To do that though, they can't continue letting leads slip away like they did Sunday.

Minnesota had the lead twice against the Royals in their series finale. Eduardo Escobar smashed a two-run home run in the fifth to give the Twins a 2-1 lead, then Byron Buxton plated two for a 4-3 lead in the sixth. Lorenzo Cain answered with a two-run triple in the seventh. Here's the video.

The Twins wasted a leadoff two-base error in the ninth -- Alex Gordon let a catchable fly ball clank off his glove -- and lost 5-4. They 1 1/2 games up on the Angels and Orioles for the second wild-card spot. Those games like Sunday are the ones that will haunt you though. They had two leads -- one-run leads, but leads nonetheless -- and couldn't protect either.

Giolito dominates against for White Sox

Right-hander Lucas Giolito, the prize of the Adam Eaton trade, had another strong start for the White Sox on Sunday. He held the Rays to one run on three hits and one walk in seven innings, striking out 10.

Giolito was called up last month and his first start did not go too well (four runs in six innings), but last time out he threw seven shutout innings against the Tigers, and Sunday he threw seven innings of one-run ball against the Rays. With both Chris Sale and Jose Quintana having been traded, the ChiSox are hoping Giolito emerges as the ace of their next contending rotation.

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