MLB wrap: Indians, Brewers make moves in wild-card races

Thomas Lott

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MLB wrap: Indians, Brewers make moves in wild-card races image

The wild-card races are incredibly fluid right now.

On Thursday, the Indians moved back into a tie with the Rays for the second wild-card spot in the American League with a 7-0 win over the Tigers, while the Brewers moved one game up on the Cubs by virtue of their 5-1 win over the Padres and Chicago's 5-4 loss to the Cardinals.

The Cubs made an exciting late push in their game coming back from three runs down to tie it up at 4-4 in the ninth inning, but a Matt Carpenter home run in the 10th off of Craig Kimbrel, who was making his return from injury, put the game out of reach.

The race in the National League Central is now all but settled for the Cubs. St. Louis leads by four games with six matchups with Chicago left in the season. The Cubs would have to go 5-1 in those games just to tie St. Louis.

However, the Brewers do remain just three games back, and if the Cubs were to go 5-1, they could possibly take the lead in the division — it is a big "if," though.

Studs of the Night

Pirates outfielder Jake Elmore went 3 for 5 with a double and two RBIs in the Pirates 6-5 loss to the Mariners in extra innings.

Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez tossed six innings while allowing one unearned run and striking out 10 in a 5-4 win over the Giants. The win was Rodriguez's 18th of the year.

Brett Gardner went 2 for 3 with a home run, three runs scored and three RBIs in the Yankees 9-1 win over the Angels.

Duds of the Night

Wil Myers and Hunter Renfroe combined to go 0 for 8 with two strikeouts in the Padres' loss to the Brewers.

Highlight

Ronald Acuna Jr. is now three stolen bases away from a 40/40 season as he hit his 40th home run of the year in a 5-4 win over the Phillies.

What's Next

Phillies (78-73) at Indians (90-63), 7:10 p.m. ET — The Phillies are just about out of the wild-card race as they sit four games back of the Brewers for the second spot, but as John Belushi famously asked: "Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?" Of course not. The Phillies technically have time to get back into a playoff spot, but they have to be just about perfect. The problem is the Indians are also fighting for a playoff spot so they will not be an easy out.

Thomas Lott