New York’s Mets face a decisive late-season sprint as a seven-game skid threatens their playoff hopes, even with Soto delivering MVP-like numbers. The AL Wild Card picture tightens with Seattle closing in on Houston, while the NL race features Mets, Giants, Reds and D-backs all within striking distance. Byes go to the Blue Jays and Tigers in the AL and Brewers and Phillies in the NL, but a final regular-season series tiebreaker will determine some crucial spots.

The stretch run promises volatility: a couple of wins can vault teams into clinching scenarios, while losses can flip a wildcard order overnight. Fantasy managers must monitor lineup shifts, bullpen usage, and park factors as teams jockey for a postseason berth in the two weeks ahead.

Brewers clinch a playoff berth as the Mets lose to Texas, sparked by Rowdy Tellez’s eighth-inning tying double off Edwin Diaz that unleashed Milwaukee’s celebration. The Cubs’ loss to the Rays nudges Milwaukee’s magic number to nine for the NL Central, sealing a postseason spot for the seventh time in eight years.

The moment sets Milwaukee on a clear path into October, with key questions about rotation and rest looming as they chase a potential division title and deep playoff run.

Moises Ballesteros tied a historic Cubs milestone with his first major-league home run, a line-drive shot that Rizzo literally snagged back for luck at Wrigley as the ceremony honored the beloved ex-Cub. Chicago built a 3-0 edge behind Rea, but Tampa Bay surged late, fueling a 5-4 comeback as the bullpen couldn’t hold. Busch answered with a homer for Chicago, Caminero and Keller supplied the late power, and the ninth offered a glimmer of hope that Chicago couldn’t convert. Imanaga prepares for Sunday.

Anthony Rizzo retires as a Cub after 14 MLB seasons, closing a decade in Chicago with a Wrigley tribute, a ceremonial first pitch to Ian Happ and a celebratory bleacher cameo.

Happ praises his leadership; Rizzo jokes about Happ’s “dumper,” and Moisés Ballesteros’ first homer lands near his row. Rizzo’s Hodgkin lymphoma battle and the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation’s $20M+ in pediatric cancer aid cap a career that featured 242 homers, 784 RBIs, three All-Stars and four Gold Gloves, plus stops with the Padres and Yankees.