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Thursday was a big day as far as formalizing the postseason field. As detailed below, four teams punched their tickets, leaving one spot in the NL and one in the AL yet to be claimed. The remaining AL spot will go to the AL West winner (survivor?), while the one in the NL will be a wild card, with the Phillies looking to fend off the Arizona Diamondbacks, who are hanging on for dear life. As for the top two seeds in each league (which get a bye), three of the four spots have been locked down. The Milwaukee Brewers will be the No. 1 seed in the NL, with the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers securing No. 2. The Tampa Bay Rays have the AL’s No. 1 seed with the AL Central winner getting No. 2.
Series to watch:
Chicago Cubs at Boston Red Sox (affecting NL wild card)
Tampa Bay Rays at Philadelphia Phillies (affecting NL wild card)
Arizona Diamondbacks at San Diego Padres (affecting NL wild card)
Cleveland Guardians at Kansas City Royals (affecting AL Central)
Colorado Rockies at Chicago White Sox (affecting AL Central)
Texas Rangers at Minnesota Twins (affecting AL West)
Houston Astros at Athletics (affecting AL West)
Today’s Headlines
White Sox Make History; Cubs, Guards, Padres Clinch
The feel-good story of the regular season is going to continue on to the postseason. And their neighbors to the north are going, too. Within minutes of each other, the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs each clinched a playoff spot. A few hours later, the Cleveland Guardians joined the party. And a few hours after that, the San Diego Padres started popping bottles.
The White Sox did so with a 9-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals, while the crosstown Cubs edged the Miami Marlins 2-1. The Guardians then notched a 1-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox, with the Padres registering a 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The White Sox are in the dance following back-to-back 100-loss seasons, including a record-setting 121 losses in 2024, becoming the first MLB team to do so. The White Sox and Guardians are still battling for the AL Central title and a first-round bye as the AL’s No. 2 seed, with the Guardians one game up entering the final weekend. The White Sox hold the tiebreaker. Whichever team doesn’t win the division will be the last AL wild card and take on the AL West winner. The Cubs and Padres will be two of the three NL wild-card teams, with a full range of outcomes possible there. Kyle Teel homered and was on base five times in the White Sox’s triumph, while Seiya Suzuki homered in the Cubs’ win. For the Guardians, Angel Martínez snuck in his team-leading 18th homer just inside the Pesky Pole in right field for the game’s lone run. The Padres won thanks to 20-year-old rookie Ethan Salas and superstar Fernando Tatis Jr. each had RBI singles in the eighth inning.
The Cubs and White Sox have made the postseason the same year just four times: 1906, 2008, 2020 and now 2026
— Sarah Langs (@slangsonsports.bsky.social) 2026-09-24T20:53:44.745Z
Crow-Armstrong Steals Way To 40-40
Not that he needed another accomplishment to seal his NL MVP status, but Cubs superstar Pete Crow-Armstrong put the icing on the cake. And this is some very tasty frosting. Crow-Armstrong, already with 45 homers, stole his 40th base of the season to become the seventh player in MLB history to reach 40-40. He joins Jose Canseco (1988), Barry Bonds (1996), Alex Rodriguez (1998), Alfonso Soriano (2006) and Shohei Ohtani (2024) as players with 40-40 seasons. Ohtani is the only player in MLB history with a 50-50 season. Entering the game against the Marlins one steal shy, Crow-Armstrong didn’t take long to make history. He drew a seven-pitch walk leading off the bottom of the first against right-hander Tyler Phillips, then took off for second on the next pitch, sliding headfirst well ahead of the throw for his 40th steal of the season.
Brewers Win 100th For First Time
When the Milwaukee Brewers nailed down the best record in MLB last season at 97-65, they did it on the strength of 11- and 14-game winning streaks in the second half. This year? The Brewers have not won more than five straight, yet they posted their 100th win of the season in a 5-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. The Brewers are the first team in MLB history to reach the century mark without having a winning streak longer than five games. Jake Bauers drove in the go-ahead run in a three-run eighth inning and Jackson Chourio added a solo homer in the ninth for the four-time defending NL Central champs, who are on the verge of locking down home-field advantage throughout the postseason. For the Phillies, it was a costly loss. Not only did they see the Arizona Diamondbacks, after a 12-8 win over the Colorado Rockies, pull within two games in the battle for the third and final NL wild-card spot, but they lost second baseman Luis Arraez, the NL batting leader, to a sprained left ankle following an awkward play at first base. His status moving forward is not known. With the Brewers reaching 100 victories, that leaves six teams yet to reach that mark: Toronto Blue Jays, Miami Marlins, Washington Nationals, San Diego Padres, Texas Rangers and Colorado Rockies.
AL West Remains Tied; Spence Hits First 3 HRs
It won’t get nearly the notice that it should, but what rookie center fielder Lucas Spence did in the series opener against the A’s could be the reason the Houston Astros get into the postseason. After not hitting a homer in his first 15 MLB games, Spence went deep three times to power the Houston Astros to a 7-5 victory over the A’s. At 79-80, the Astros are still tied for first place in the AL West with the Rangers, who beat the New York Mets 3-1 much earlier in the day thanks to homers by Josh Jung and Corey Seager. The Rangers snapped a three-game losing streak. The Astros hold the tiebreaker over the Rangers, giving them a magic number of two to clinch a playoff spot. Spence, who has 24 homers in 239 minor-league games, hit a three-run homer in the second inning for a 3-0 Astros lead, then snapped a seventh-inning tie with a solo homer to make it 5-4 and provided an insurance solo shot in the ninth for a 7-5 lead. He joins Seby Zavala of the White Sox (July 31, 2021) and Joshua Báez of the St. Louis Cardinals (Aug. 15) as the only players in MLB history to hit their first three homers in the same game. Baez did it in his MLB debut. Either the Astros or the Rangers would need to sweep their final three games to avoid becoming the first team in MLB history to enter the playoffs with a losing record in a full season.
By The Numbers
81 The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 as Spencer Horwitz’s sacrifice fly scored Ronny Simon with the go-ahead run in the eighth inning. The win was the Pirates’ 81st, guaranteeing them finishing .500 or better for the first time since 2018.
223 White Sox slugger Colson Montgomery struck out in his second plate appearance, breaking the AL record (and club record) for strikeouts while tying Mark Reynolds‘ MLB mark with 223, set in 2009. Montgomery surpassed Adam Dunn for the White Sox and AL record, set in 2012.
2007-08 The Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners joined an ignominious group by making the League Championship Series one year and missing the playoffs the next. The last ones to do so were the 2007-08 D’backs and Rockies.
30 Cincinnati Reds superstar Elly De La Cruz hit his 30th homer of the season in a 7-6 victory over Atlanta. De La Cruz has 29 steals, needing just one more for the first career 30-30 season of his four-year career.
Best Moments From Yesterday
Which One Gets The Ball?
When you take newborn twins to an MLB game, the last thing you want is a ball whizzing anywhere near you. But this Phillies fan dad, holding one of the babies, barehanded this foul and now has a souvenir.
Rookie Instincts
Who taught Yankees rookie George Lombard Jr. this move?
Get a load of this slide by George Lombard Jr.
— Casey Drottar (@caseydrottar.bsky.social) 2026-09-25T01:27:40.158Z
Man Of The People
The post says it all.
RT @JomboyMedia: Before his potential last home game as a Cub, Ian Happ tossed the fans in the Wrigley bleachers a baseball with some cash for beer
— Talkin' Baseball (@talkinbaseballbot.bsky.social) 2026-09-24T18:55:31.000Z
Leaving On A High Note
While manager Don Kelly got booed for the mound visit, Pittsburgh Pirates fans gave superstar right-hander Paul Skenes a rousing ovation after hitting 200 strikeouts in a season that didn’t meet his lofty standards.
Paul Skenes gets pulled after reaching 200 strikeouts in his final start of the season and the Pirates fans show him some love
— Talkin' Baseball (@talkinbaseballbot.bsky.social) 2026-09-24T18:31:11.000Z
Injuries and Other Moves
⚾ The big storm hitting the northeast this weekend has caused Saturday’s Baltimore Orioles–New York Yankees game to be moved up to Friday as part of a single-admission doubleheader.
⚾ Yankees right-hander Clarke Schmidt went back on the 15-day injured list with right biceps neuritis. Schmidt had come back from having an internal brace procedure, making his season debut Sept. 16 by getting two outs. That was his lone outing.
⚾ Phillies left-handed starter Jesús Luzardo (left shoulder inflammation) threw a 30-pitch bullpen session as he tries to come back for the postseason.
⚾ Atlanta left-handed starter Martín Pérez went on the 15-day injured list with lower-back inflammation, a big blow entering the postseason.
⚾ White Sox right-handed starter Luis Castillo went on the 15-day IL with a right shoulder impingement. He will be unavailable to the White Sox until a potential AL Championship Series appearance.
⚾ Right-handed reliever Camilo Doval, who was designated for assignment by the Pittsburgh Pirates, was claimed by the San Francisco Giants, the team he made his MLB debut with.
Articles You Should Read
“Why aren’t we the Brewers?” How the Reds remain in limbo as other small-market teams succeed — Ken Rosenthal and C. Trent Rosencrans, The Athletic
Gray’s doubters always said he wasn’t cut out for a big market. He proved them wrong in Boston. — Alex Speier, Boston Globe
Stats that defined the 2026 season — Anthony Castrovince
Fantasy Baseball Coverage
