With just two weeks remaining in the 2026 Major League Baseball regular season, the playoff landscape is taking shape. The Tampa Bay Rays and the Milwaukee Brewers have secured their spots in the postseason, leaving fans to watch the remaining division races and wild‑card contests unfold.
American League outlook
In the AL East, the Rays hold a comfortable four‑game lead over the New York Yankees and appear set to claim the division title. The Yankees and Boston Red Sox are expected to join Tampa Bay in the playoffs, with the Red Sox positioned as the second wild‑card team.
The battle for the remaining three AL spots intensifies. The Chicago White Sox lead the Cleveland Guardians by a half‑game for the AL Central crown, while the Guardians maintain a one‑game advantage over the Toronto Blue Jays for the final wild‑card slot. In the AL West, the Houston Astros sit one game ahead of the Texas Rangers, who are also two games behind Cleveland for the last wild‑card position. All other clubs sit at least four games back.
Key head‑to‑head series include White Sox at Guardians (Sept. 14‑16) and Toronto at Texas (Sept. 18‑20). Tiebreaker rules already favor the White Sox over the Blue Jays and Rangers; the Astros hold advantages over the White Sox, Guardians and Rangers; the Blue Jays lead the Guardians; and the Rangers top both the Blue Jays and Guardians.
Another subplot involves the race for the second first‑round bye. Chicago currently leads Houston by 1½ games for that coveted spot.
National League outlook
In the NL, the Brewers, Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers dominate their divisions. Milwaukee (93‑57) appears safe for a first‑round bye, while Los Angeles (90‑59) leads Atlanta (88‑62) in the race for the other bye.
The wild‑card scramble is essentially a four‑team contest for three spots. The Chicago Cubs (83‑67), Philadelphia Phillies (83‑67), San Diego Padres (81‑68) and Arizona Diamondbacks (79‑71) are all in the mix. San Diego will host Arizona in the final three games of the season (Sept. 25‑27).
Tiebreaker hierarchies are set: the Braves hold the edge over the Dodgers; the Cubs outrank the Phillies, Padres and Diamondbacks; and the Phillies have the advantage over the Padres.
Notable performances
Philadelphia’s Jesús Luzardo delivered a two‑hit shutout of Atlanta, striking out 12 batters on Monday. The Phillies won 1‑0 thanks to an eighth‑inning home run by Kyle Schwarber, extending their split of a four‑game series with the Braves.
In a dramatic comeback, the San Francisco Giants rallied from a 6‑1 deficit, scoring six runs in the bottom of the eighth to beat St. Louis 7‑6. Bryce Eldridge’s bases‑loaded single, Jonah Cox’s RBI single, Jung Hoo Lee’s two‑run double and Shay Whitcomb’s double capped the rally. At one point after the second out, the Giants’ win probability was a mere 1.1% according to Baseball Savant.
Team of the week
The San Diego Padres have gone 6‑0 to surge ahead of Arizona in the wild‑card race. The club is on a seven‑game winning streak overall, with four of those victories decided by a single run. Reliever Mason Miller recorded four saves during the streak.
Trivia
Cubs outfielder Pete Crow‑Armstrong is on pace to finish the season with double‑digit wins above replacement (fWAR) in the FanGraphs metric—a feat achieved recently by Aaron Judge, Bobby Witt Jr., Mookie Betts and Mike Trout, but not by a National Leaguer since Barry Bonds posted 11.9 fWAR in 2004.
In 1998, Kevin Brown posted a 10.0 fWAR season for San Diego, going 18‑7 with a 2.38 ERA over 257 innings. While his pitching contribution was officially valued at 9.6 fWAR, he also earned a modest credit for his batting.
Original reporting: KSAT Sports (San Antonio) — read the source article.
