Braves Claim NL East, Red Sox Punch Playoff Ticket as Season Winds Down
The short version
- Braves clinched the NL East with a 4-2 win at Houston, their seventh division title in nine seasons.
- Red Sox secured an AL wild-card berth when the Astros lost, despite Boston's 5-1 defeat at Tampa Bay.
- Guardians lead the White Sox by one game in the AL Central; Rangers lead the Astros by one in the AL West.
- Rays lead the Yankees by six games and can clinch the AL East with one win in their four-game series in New York starting Tuesday.
- Phillies are four up on the Diamondbacks for the last NL wild card and trail the Cubs and Padres by one.
Atlanta locked up the division in Houston, Boston clinched an AL wild-card spot despite losing, and both AL Central and AL West races stay within one game.
The Atlanta Braves secured the NL East crown on Sunday, defeating the Astros 4-2 in Houston. It marks the franchise's seventh division championship over the past nine years. Atlanta sits six games clear of the second-place Phillies with six to play and owns the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Boston also joined the postseason field, though not on the strength of its own result. The Red Sox fell 5-1 to the Rays in St. Petersburg, then clinched an AL wild-card spot later when Houston lost. Boston had already locked up a playoff berth as of Sept. 20 and closes the regular season with six straight home games against the Guardians and Cubs.
Two American League division races remain undecided with seven days left. Cleveland edged Oakland 1-0 at home to keep a one-game cushion over the White Sox, who beat Detroit 8-1 in Chicago. Texas still leads Houston by a single game in the AL West even after a 7-2 home loss to Toronto, and the Astros hold the season-series tiebreaker between the two clubs.
Tampa Bay carries a six-game advantage over the Yankees in the AL East and needs just one victory in this week's four-game set at Yankee Stadium — opening Tuesday with a day-night doubleheader — to wrap up the division. New York fell 8-4 at Arizona on Sunday.
In the National League wild-card chase, Philadelphia downed the Mets 7-2 to stay four games ahead of Arizona for the final spot. The Phillies sit one game behind both the Cubs and Padres, with Chicago holding the first position on the head-to-head tiebreaker.