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We are now into the homestretch of the 2017 regular season. Only six days remain before the baseball world switches into postseason mode, which is when the game changes from a marathon to a sprint. Here is everything you need to know about the day in baseball.

Tuesday's scores

Sale gets rocked by Jays

Chris Sale's chances of reeling in the Cy Young Award over Corey Kluber took another hit on Tuesday night.

That's because Sale lasted only five innings against the Blue Jays, yielding five earned runs on eight hits. Among those eight hits? Four home runs. Sale gave up a pair of dingers to Josh Donaldson, as well as one apiece to Teoscar Hernandez and Kendrys Morales.

Sale has now allowed multiple home runs in three of his five September starts. He has pitched fewer than six innings in each of those starts. Sale entered September having lasted fewer than six innings three times all year.

Yankees clinch home-field in Wild Card Game

Thanks to their victory against the Rays. You can read more here.

McCutchen hits first grand slam

Here's something you probably didn't know: Andrew McCutchen had never hit a grand slam. Nope, not one.

That changed on Tuesday night:

McCutchen entered the night hitting .273/.358/.470 with 26 home runs. He has enjoyed a bounceback effort this year after a miserable 2016. It's fair to wonder if he'll be traded this winter, making Tuesday's granny the only he'll ever hit in a Pirates uniform.

Of course, there'll be plenty of time to think about that after Sunday. For now, McCutchen is a Pirate -- and a Pirate with a grand slam under his belt.

Pujols drives in 100th run

The only thing keeping Albert Pujols from being universally panned by baseball fans is his RBI total. He notched his 100th RBI on the season on Tuesday, giving him 14 such seasons for his career. That put him in some extremely select company:

Pujols entered the night hitting .240/.287/.388. He has been one of, if not the worst player in the majors by most advanced metrics. 

Tuesday's clinching scenarios

Already four teams have clinched their division title (Astros, Dodgers, Indians, Nationals) and three others have clinched a postseason spot (Diamondbacks, Red Sox, Yankees). One division title and one postseason spot can be clinched Tuesday. Here is a postseason scenario update and here are Tuesday's clinching scenarios:

  • Cubs will clinch NL Central title with a win or a Brewers loss.
  • Twins will clinch wild-card spot with a win and an Angels loss.
  • Yankees will clinch home-field advantage in Wild Card Game with a win or a Twins loss.
  • Astros will clinch home-field advantage in the ALDS over the AL East winner with a win and a Red Sox loss.

The best race in baseball right now is the race for the second NL wild-card spot. The Rockies are 1½ games up on the Brewers and 2½ games up on the Cardinals. That spot can't be clinched until Thursday at the earliest.

Harper returns to Nationals

One day later than expected, the Nationals activated Bryce Harper off the 10-day DL, the team announced early Tuesday. He was originally going to be activated Monday, though an illness pushed his return back a day. 

Harper was in Tuesday's lineup after having not played since suffering a scary looking knee injury on Aug. 12. (Harper slipped on a wet base in the rain and suffered a bone bruise in his left knee.) He batted second and went 0 for 2, walking once before being lifted for Victor Robles. A quiet game, all told, but that's OK.

The Nationals have not only already clinched the NL East title, they've already clinched the second best record in the NL. They know they'll host the NL Central winner (almost certainly the Cubs) in the NLDS. The team has nothing to play for these final six days of the season, but these six days given Harper a chance to get back up to speed before the postseason. He has about a week to get ready after missing more than six weeks with the injury.

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