The Rays had a chance to be the first team this season to clinch a playoff spot with a win and some help, but the Braves rallied late to up their NL East lead to four games heading into a showdown with the second-place Phillies tonight in Atlanta.

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Jose Altuve smacked a 3rd-inning double to become the 102nd MLBer to reach the 2,500-hit threshold. But it was Kyle Schwarber's 6th-inning slam that turned the tide for the Phillies vs. the Astros. Also, Shohei Ohtani sat for the 6th time in 7 games.

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Aaron Judge was back in action after missing three months with a rib stress fracture, going 0-for-3. But his presence in the lineup and clubhouse was a huge boost for the Yanks, who got another stellar start from Cam Schlittler to beat the Rockies.

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A huge weekend series in Philly between NL East rivals ended in a split as the hosts rode an eighth-inning homer from Kyle Schwarber and a masterful complete-game performance from Jesús Luzardo to a 1-0 win over the first-place Braves.

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The Padres hit back-to-back-to-back home runs -- off Gerrit Cole -- marking the second time in franchise history San Diego has opened a game with three straight homers. And Cole is the only pitcher to have that happen more than once in his career.

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Fans gave Adley Rutschman a standing ovation prior to his first at-bat. The former Oriole promptly homered. He then went deep again to propel the Red Sox. At Wrigley Field, Pete Crow-Armstrong blasted homer No. 39 as the Cubs edged the Brewers.

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Ronald Acuña Jr. homered in the Braves' win over the Nats, thereby becoming the fastest player in MLB history to combine 200 homers and 200 steals. Elsewhere, the Wild Card races in both leagues continued to heat up, and they can't get much tighter.

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For most of the year it appeared the Braves would run away with the NL East title. But after a hot August and six straight wins, the Phillies have pulled within three games of their division rival. Meanwhile, Gavin Williams continued his strikeout artistry in Cleveland.

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Alex Bregman went deep three times for the second time this season, and the Cubs totaled a team-record nine homers on the night to simply overpower the first-place Brewers at a rainy Wrigley Field.

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Max Scherzer entered yesterday's series finale vs. the Mariners looking to give the Jays a boost in their Wild Card chase. He did that and more, throwing seven one-hit innings and fanning 10 to move into ninth place on the all-time strikeouts list.

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Three of the National League's top aces bolstered their resumes as Chris Sale pitched a five-hit shutout to win a 1-0 duel against Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Jacob Misiorowski won in the Big Apple to run his record to 14-5 with an MLB-best 1.73 ERA.

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