Thursday brought an 11-game slate of MLB action, much of it carrying playoff implications. Let's dig in ... 

Final scores

Cubs open series with Brewers with huge win

The biggest series of the season (to date) will be played this weekend in Milwaukee. The first-place Cubs and second-place Brewers opened a four-game series at Miller Park on Thursday night. Chicago went into the series with a 3 1/2 game lead in the NL Central.

Thursday's game was an instant classic. It was the first game this season that felt like a postseason game. The Cubs took an early 2-0 lead, the Brewers battled back to tie it in the seventh, then took the lead in the eighth. Javier Baez's two-out, two-strike single knotted things up in the ninth, then, in the 10th, Kris Bryant crushed the game-winning, two-run home run:

The Brewers did not have closer Corey Knebel or ace setup men Anthony Swarzak and Josh Hader on Thursday because of their recent workloads, and it cost them in the ninth when Jeremy Jeffress blew the save. Also, the Brewers loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the ninth but were unable to score. Domingo Santana struck out and Orlando Arcia grounded out to the pitcher.

With the win, the Cubs are 4 1/2 games up in the NL Central with 10 games to play. These two teams still have three games to go this series, but at this point the Brewers pretty much need to win all three to stay in the division race.

Indians now riding a 27-1 stretch

Last Friday the Indians had their AL-record 22-game hitting streak snapped, but they got right back up on the horse Saturday and have not lost since. Cleveland finished off their sweep of the Angels on Thursday afternoon, and they're now 27-1 in their last 28 games. 27-1! 

It has been more than a century since a team last won 27 times in a 28-game span.

Thanks to this insane 27-1 hot streak, the Indians are only one game behind the Dodgers for baseball's best record. Passing Los Angeles would assure the Indians of home-field advantage throughout the postseason.

Cano hits 300th home run

Robinson Cano and his perfect swing became the newest member of the 300 home run club. He took Rangers reliever Keone Kela out to center field for the milestone blast. To the action footage:

Cano is the 146th player in history to hit 300 career home runs, though he is only the third full-time second baseman in the 300-homer club. Here's the all-time home run leaderboard among players who spent the majority of their careers at second base:

  1. Jeff Kent: 377
  2. Rogers Hornsby: 301
  3. Robinson Cano: 300 (and counting)
  4. Craig Biggio: 291
  5. Ryne Sandberg: 282

Cano is both very good and signed through 2023, so he has a very real chance to pass Kent and become the all-time leader in home runs among second basemen.

Twins create some wild-card breathing room

Any hopes the Twins had of hosting the AL Wild Card Game at Target Field were wiped away earlier this week, when they were swept by the Yankees at Yankee Stadium. New York's lead for the top wild-card spot is seven games coming into Thursday.

The Twins, amazingly, did not lose any ground in the second wild-card race despite being swept. That's because the Angels were swept by the Indians at the same time. Minnesota came into Thursday with a 1 1/2-game lead over the Halos for that second wild-card spot.

On Thursday, the Twins got back in the win column against the Tigers -- six of their final nine games are against the lowly Tigers -- and franchise player Joe Mauer was the offensive hero. He went 3 for 4 in the blowout win and picked up his 400th career double in the process.

Mauer is hitting .333/.413/.447 since the All-Star break and has upped his overall season batting line to .311/.388/.427. That looks very much like a vintage Joe Mauer batting line. He's turned back the clock this year.

Thursday's win over the Tigers coupled with the Angels losing to the Indians means the Twins are now 2 1/2 games up on the second wild card spot with nine to play. And again, six of their final nine games are against the Tigers, a team that has won only 11 of their last 45 games. 

Minnesota hasn't punched their ticket to the postseason yet, but they have to feel pretty good about where they sit, despite getting swept in New York earlier this week.

Rangers win fourth straight, inch closer to wild card spot

Thanks to Thursday night's win over the Mariners, the Rangers have a four-game winning streak, and they moved into a tie with the Angels in the standings. Texas, like Anaheim, is now 2 1/2 games behind the Twins for the second wild card spot.

Thursday's hero was ace left-hander Cole Hamels, who held the Mariners to one run in eight innings of work. Adrian Beltre and Shin-Soo Choo supported Hamels with solo home runs.

The Rangers have had a very up-and-down season. Lots of long winning streaks followed by long winning streaks. If they're starting one of those winning streaks right now, there might be just enough time left in the season for them to make a serious run at the Twins for a wild card spot.

Encarnacion hits 37th home run

Once upon a time, Edwin Encarnacion was off to a pretty slow start to the season after signing a free agent contract with the Indians. He bottomed out at a .670 OPS on May 15, which is pretty terrible for a bat-only designated hitter.

On May 16, Encarnacion went 2 for 4 with a home run, and he's been on a rampage since. Going into Thursday's game he'd hit .273/.389/.554 with 31 home runs in his previous 111 games, dating back to May 16. Encarnacion clubbed his 32nd home run since May 15 -- and 37th overall this season -- on Thursday afternoon:

Thursday's homer was the third in the last five games for Encarnacion. He is the only player in baseball to hit at least 37 home runs in each of the last three seasons, though Nelson Cruz and Nolan Arenado could join him before the season is out. Encarnacion has also hit 30-plus dingers in six straight seasons now. The next longest active streak is four, by Cruz and Anthony Rizzo.

Cardinals stay alive in wild card race

Amazingly, the St. Louis Cardinals are still not completely out of the wild card picture. Every other week this season it seemed like they suffered a crushing series loss that made you think okay, that's it, they're out of it for sure now. But nope. They're still alive.

Thursday night the Cardinals hammered the Reds in their series finale, giving St. Louis the three-game sweep. Dexter Fowler led the charge offensively, going 3 for 5 with two doubles. Yadier Molina also drove in two runs to continue his scorching hot September.

Thanks to the sweep over the Reds, the Cardinals are now two games behind the Rockies for the second wild-card spot, pending the outcome of Colorado's game against the Padres on Thursday night. Two games out with 10 to play won't be easy, but it's not impossible either. If nothing else, the Cardinals figure to play meaningful baseball for another week or so. They're not out of it yet.

Ynoa throws gem for O's

September has not gone according to plan for the Orioles. They came into the month only 2 1/2 games back of the second AL wild-card spot, but they've since gone 6-14 to fall to 5 1/2 games back, and that includes Thursday's win over the Rays.

Thursday's win featured a long two-run home run from Manny Machado, and also a gem of a start from rookie right-hander Gabriel Ynoa. He held the Rays to one run in a career-high eight innings.

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Gabriel Ynoa
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Ynoa, 24, is now 2-2 with a 3.41 ERA in 31 2/3 big-league innings this season. He was acquired from the Mets in a cash trade over the winter, and he spent most of the season as a depth arm in Triple-A. Ynoa threw 106 1/3 innings with a 5.25 ERA for the O's top minor-league affiliate.

The Orioles, even with Ynoa's outing Thursday, have received a 5.60 ERA from their starters this season, second worst in baseball. (Reds starters have a 5.65 ERA.) Ynoa did not necessarily pitch his way into the 2018 rotation on Thursday, but he at least gave the O's something to think about. If nothing else, his September cameo (2.37 ERA in 19 innings) shows he can get outs at this level when things are going right.

Thursday's clinching scenarios

So far three teams have clinched their division (Astros, Indians, Nationals) and two others have clinched a postseason spot (Dodgers, Red Sox). That means five postseason spots are still up for grabs with 11 days to go in the regular season.

Unfortunately, there are no clinching scenarios in play Thursday, so no team will be popping champagne to celebrate. Here are the magic numbers coming into Thursday:

  • Dodgers: 2 to clinch NL West.
  • Yankees: 3 to win postseason spot.
  • Diamondbacks: 4 to clinch postseason spot.
  • Red Sox: 8 to clinch AL East.
  • Cubs: 8 to clinch NL Central.
  • Rockies: 10 to clinch postseason spot.
  • Twins: 10 to clinch postseason spot.

The magic number is the number of wins by Team 1 and losses by Team 2 needed to clinch. So, for example, any combination of Red Sox wins and Yankees losses totaling eight the rest of the season clinches the AL East for Boston.

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