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MLB Playoff Picture Update: A slow day of baseball

MLB: St. Louis Cardinals at Arizona Diamondbacks Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

American League East

The Yankees have already clinched this division.

American League Central

Like most teams in baseball, both the Twins and the Indians were off on Monday. The Twins still hold a four-game lead over Cleveland with six games to play, meaning they can clinch this as soon as Wednesday if they win each of their next two games and Cleveland loses at least one, or if Cleveland loses each of their next two and Minnesota wins at least one.

American League West

The Astros have already clinched this division.

American League Wildcard

Like I said, the Indians had the day off on Monday, as did the Athletics. As we know, the Rays did not have the day off and they took advantage. It did look early on like the Red Sox were gong to take this game, but Tampa Bay had other ideas and put up six runs in the fourth. That was all they needed for the victory. With the win, the Rays have a slim, half-game lead over Cleveland for the second wild card spot while trailing Oakland for the top spot by 1.5 games. The Athletics have the Angels next, while the Rays are playing the Yankees and the Indians are playing the White Sox.

National League East

The Braves have already clinched this division.

National League Central

The Cardinals are the team leading this division, and they were also the only club in action on this Monday where so many teams were off. Fresh off a huge four-game sweep of the Cubs, it wouldn’t have been hard to imagine a letdown game for St. Louis here. Instead, Paul Goldschmidt homered in his return to Arizona and helped lead the Cards to a victory in the desert. St. Louis now has a 3.5-game edge over the Brewers, and can clinch as soon as Wednesday. They are in the same position as the Twins, needing a combination of three Cardinals wins or Brewers losses to clinch.

National League West

The Dodgers have already clinched this division.

National League Wildcard

This once thrilling race is almost just down to the top two seeds jostling for home field advantage. That top spot in the race looked certain to belong to the Nationals for a lot of this stretch run, but Washington has stumbled a bit and the Brewers have been red-hot. Only the Nats were in action on Monday, and they took care of business with an easy 7-2 victory over the Phillies. That gave them a half-game edge over the Brewers for that top spot. The Cubs are the next closest team in the race, with an elimination number of three. Washington continues their series against the Phillies this week while the Brewers play the Reds and the Cubs play the Pirates.