The marathon is nearing its finish for the MLB regular season, with four games left for the majority of teams. And other than the tight grips the Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies have on the top spots in the National League, there’s plenty up for grabs.

Here are the top storylines entering Thursday in a chaotic finish for the MLB playoffs: 

There’s a chance the Yankees get the No. 1 seed  

We are indeed in strange times when the New York Yankees can give a hearty “thank you” to their nemesis Boston Red Sox.

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Aaron Judge hit home runs Nos. 50 and 51 on Wednesday as the Yankees took care of business in the Bronx, blowing out the Chicago White Sox 8-1. The Yankees’ 90th victory of the season pulled them into a tie for the AL East lead with the Toronto Blue Jays, who lost their second straight game to the Red Sox at home. 

Toronto holds the tiebreaker with New York, and its next four games — one vs. Boston and three against Tampa Bay — are at home. The Yankees will need some more Jays missteps to get out of the wild-card spot, but it’s certainly possible. 

Manager Aaron Boone could get a moment to exhale, even if it’ll last for only a couple of days before the ALDS starts.

Why not 62 for Cal? 

Let’s hit pause for a moment on the Seattle Mariners’ incredible playoff push, which reached new heights Wednesday, when they clinched the AL West. Let’s gaze instead at Cal Raleigh’s historic season. He hit home runs Nos. 59 and 60 on Wednesday, which puts him two away from tying Aaron Judge’s single-season record in the American League.

We should expect Raleigh to keep hacking away, especially with one game left against the Colorado Rockies and then a three-game set against the Los Angeles Dodgers and their erratic bullpen. 

Guardians’ rocket rise could push Tigers out of playoff picture 

On July 8, Detroit had the best record in baseball.

Entering play Thursday, the Tigers are looking at the grim prospect of playing their final game of the year this weekend. That’s how remarkable the Guardians’ surge has been and how stunning Detroit’s collapse has been as Cleveland had taken control of the AL Central . 

The Guardians went up a full game on the Tigers by winning 5-1 on Wednesday. They’ll go for a sweep Thursday. And even if the Tigers avoid the broom for their third straight series, the Guardians own the tiebreaker. 

On Sept. 4, the Tigers led the division by 11 games. But Cleveland has won 12 of its past 13 games, while Detroit is 2-11 in its past 13 games and currently on an eight-game losing streak.   

Detroit will need help regaining control of the division. After Thursday’s series finale, Cleveland will host Texas for its final three games of the regular season. If the Guardians take care of business, the Tigers better hope the Houston Astros keep tripping. Detroit owns the tiebreaker vs. Houston if it comes down to a tie for the final wild-card spot.

Adding to Detroit’s woes: Their final series of the regular season is at Fenway Park against the playoff-bound Red Sox, who are looking to make a move of their own in the wild-card standings.  

Do the Mets, Reds and Diamondbacks want to make the playoffs?

With four games to go, three teams are vying for the final wild-card spot in the National League. The New York Mets currently hold that spot, but the Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks sit one game behind New York. 

With a trip to the playoffs on the line … every team faltered Wednesday. The Mets were blown out by the Chicago Cubs, and both the Reds and D-backs lost in extras. 

All three teams are in action again Thursday. Of that group, the pressure is highest on the Mets, who need to finish with a better record than the Reds and Diamondbacks to make the playoffs. Cincinnati and Arizona hold tiebreakers over New York for the final spot, so the Mets can’t afford to end the season tied with either club.

The Reds sit on the other side of the pendulum. Cincinnati holds the tiebreaker over both New York and Arizona, so the Reds would secure a postseason spot if they end the year tied with those teams.

The only other team still in the playoff hunt in the NL is the Miami Marlins, but their path is nearly impossible at this point. The Marlins sit four games out but finish the season with a three-game series against the Mets. There’s a scenario in which Miami could sweep the Mets and earn the right tiebreakers to get in, but one misstep would see the team eliminated.

Despite being fewer games out, the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals have been eliminated from the playoffs. They can’t win the appropriate tiebreakers to secure a spot, no matter how they finish the season.

What to watch Thursday

Dodgers vs. Diamondbacks: 3:40 p.m. ET
Marlins vs. Phillies: 6:05 p.m. ET
Tigers vs. Guardians: 6:40 p.m. ET
White Sox vs. Yankees: 7:05 p.m. ET
Red Sox vs. Blue Jays: 7:07 p.m. ET
Mets vs. Cubs: 7:40 p.m. ET
Rockies vs. Mariners: 9:40 p.m. ET

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For the first time in 24 years, the Seattle Mariners will finish the season on top of the AL West. The Mariners clinched the AL West division title Wednesday with a 9-2 win over the Colorado Rockies, pulling away from the Houston Astros after a neck-and-neck race to the end of the season.

They got there in style, with star catcher Cal Raleigh slugging his 59th and 60th homers of the season. He is the seventh player in MLB history to join the 60-homer club.

The division title is the Mariners’ fourth in franchise history, with the most recent coming in 2001. Seattle is advancing to the playoffs for just the fourth time in the past 26 seasons and the sixth time in franchise history (since 1977).

The AL West has been a battle for most of the season, with the Mariners, Astros and Texas Rangers all in the playoff hunt. Houston held the top spot for most of the summer, but a late surge put the Mariners back on top.

Seattle significantly boosted its chances with a sweep of Houston last weekend, taking three wins on the road and securing the tiebreaker. 

[Get more Seattle news: Mariners team feed]

This long-awaited division title comes three years after the Mariners snapped a 21-year playoff drought — the longest postseason drought in major American sports at the time — with a wild-card berth in 2022. That year, Seattle finished 90-72, 16 games back from the Astros, and beat the Blue Jays in the wild-card round before losing to Houston in the ALDS.

Seattle is one of five MLB teams that has never won a World Series, and it’s the only team in the AL that has never appeared in a World Series. The ’25 Mariners, riding to the franchise’s best season in 25 years, will hope to change that.

This year has marked one of the most exciting seasons in the team’s history. There have been wild diving double plays, 12th-inning walk-offs and a series against the Atlanta Braves in which Seattle scored a total of 29 runs.

All throughout, Raleigh has been hitting home run after home run, breaking records and making history in the process. And while Raleigh is a front-runner in the AL MVP race, he isn’t the only reason this Seattle team is thriving. 

Eugenio Suárez and Josh Naylor, who both joined the Mariners via trades with the Arizona Diamondbacks before the deadline, have been game-changers for the team. On the mound, 25-year-old Bryan Woo has established himself as the Mariners’ ace in a rotation full of great pitchers. The collective has given this Seattle team a new energy that is sending them to the postseason.

The Mariners have four games left in the regular season before the playoffs begin. They are in line to secure a bye through the wild-card round and host the ALDS against the winner of one of the AL wild-card series.

It remains to be seen how far Seattle will make it in the postseason. But for a Mariners fan base that has suffered a lot in the past 25 years, it feels like this team has already won.

The baseball season is a marathon. Each major-league roster is in constant flux as teams deal with surges, slumps, injuries and disappointments throughout the 162-game campaign. When the dust settles, the front office in each city begins analyzing successes and failures and building plans to improve in the future. After all, every year, 29 of 30 teams fall short of the ultimate goal.

With that in mind,

Minnesota Twins (eliminated Sept. 13)

So many Twins had mediocre offensive seasons. Among the disappointments were several of those who were expected to make a real impact. That list is headlined by Royce Lewis, who was again injured and inconsistent. Lewis missed most of the first half due to a hamstring injury and had a .583 OPS in the 42 games he played. He picked things up a bit in the second half, with a .764 OPS through Sept. 13, but it was too little, too late.

Carlos Correa was the other potential star who fell far short of expectations. He produced just seven homers and a .704 OPS in 93 games prior to the trade deadline, when the front office made the decision to send him back to Houston. Given that the team wasn’t far out of the race at that point, it’s easy to see how the Twins’ season could’ve been completely different if Lewis and Correa had been impact players in the first half. Read more

Pittsburgh Pirates (eliminated Sept. 15)

The Pirates’ success this season can be summed up in two words: Paul Skenes. The sophomore ace can make an excellent case for being the best pitcher in baseball, as he could finish his first two big-league seasons with an ERA under 2.00. Skenes seemingly does everything well, dominating hitters on both sides of the plate, striking out batters by the truckload and rarely surrendering walks or home runs. He is the front-runner to take home the NL Cy Young Award and already seems well on his way to a Hall of Fame career.

Of course, Skenes can pitch in only about 20% of the team’s games, so thankfully, he was supported in the rotation by Mitch Keller, who slumped during August but was otherwise effective. They were also joined in late August by Bubba Chandler, who put his elite skill set on full display while appearing mostly as a bulk reliever. The Pirates should finish with a team ERA that’s top-10 in baseball. Read more

Los Angeles Angels (eliminated Sept. 15)

The Angels’ biggest failures were on the pitching staff. The starters often struggled to keep the bases clean, which limited how long they could remain in games. The bottom three starters — Tyler Anderson, Kyle Hendricks and Jack Kochanowicz — spent most of the season with ERAs north of 4.50. And aside from Jansen and Brock Burke, the team’s key relievers struggled to log ERAs below 4.00. The staff seemed to consist entirely of innings-eaters, lacking anyone who could make a real difference.

Although the Angels’ offense improved overall, there were still a couple of hitters who let the team down. Luis Rengifo experienced a major offensive decline. Jorge Soler was arguably even more disappointing, as he was expected to be a middle-of-the-lineup presence after he was acquired via trade last October. His play was acceptable during April but then tailed off, and he spent a significant amount of the summer on the IL due to recurring back inflammation. Read more

Athletics (eliminated Sept. 17)

Nick Kurtz opened the season as the organization’s top prospect and will likely finish as the AL Rookie of the Year and the centerpiece of the Athletics’ lineup. The slugger needed time to get acclimated, as he hit .208 with one homer in his initial 23 games. Then he became dominant in late May and stayed that way for the rest of the summer, which included one of the most memorable single-game performances in MLB history.

Kurtz wasn’t the only A’s rookie to make a major impact. After getting his feet wet last season, Jacob Wilson spent 2025 ranked among the sport’s batting average leaders, and he emerged as a lineup sparkplug who rarely strikes out and has a little more pop than some expected. His campaign was interrupted in late July by a fractured forearm, but by that point Wilson had already established his significant upside. Read more

Baltimore Orioles (eliminated Sept. 17)

There were nearly as many disappointments at the plate as there were on the mound. Adley Rutschman was the highest profile letdown. He was supposed to rebound from a poor second half in 2024 and return to being one of the best young catchers in baseball. Instead, Rutschman regressed further, a huge problem when factoring in that he usually hit second in the lineup. 

Ascending youngsters Jordan Westburg and Colton Cowser both missed a significant portion of the first half due to injuries, free-agent signee Tyler O’Neill was a massive bust, and Ryan Mountcastle’s contributions were virtually nonexistent. Former prospects such as Heston Kjerstad and Coby Mayo did not take the next step, and with that, a lineup that was supposed to be among the best in baseball was full of holes from top to bottom. Read more

Tampa Bay Rays (eliminated Sept. 19)

Junior Caminero is at the outset of a memorable career. Just 22 years old, Camerino has already surpassed 40 homers and 100 RBI in his first full MLB campaign. For an organization known for developing pitchers, having a superstar hitter in the heart of the lineup for years to come will be incredibly valuable. The next challenge for Caminero will be to rank among baseball’s best batters without the benefit of George M. Steinbrenner Field, as he was much more effective at home than on the road in 2025.

Caminero wasn’t the only Rays hitter who had a strong season. Jonathan Aranda, Yandy Díaz and Brandon Lowe each made a significant impact. The success of Aranda was especially encouraging, considering he entered the season as a 26-year-old with 293 career at-bats who was running out of time to take the next step. Díaz used the power-inducing nature of his temporary home park to post a career-best homer total, while the oft-injured Lowe was selected for the All-Star Game and will finish with his most games played (149) since 2021. Read more

Atlanta Braves (eliminated Sept. 20)

There was no shortage of disappointments for a team that ended a string of seven consecutive postseason appearances with a clunker. The Braves lost their first seven games of 2025 and never logged the necessary winning streak to bring them close to a winning record. Another rough stretch near the beginning of July sealed their fate as the most disappointing team in the National League. Read more

Kansas City Royals (eliminated Sept. 23)

After having an average offense last year, the Royals were expected to take a step forward with their group of young hitters. Instead, they spent the entire season ranked among the lowest-scoring teams in baseball.

Bobby Witt Jr. continues to be one of the best all-around players in the sport. He fields the shortstop position extremely well and is always dangerous at the plate. That said, there is no hiding the fact that Witt took a major step backward offensively this year. He continued to run the bases aggressively, but his batting average and home run total paled in comparison to his 2024 production. Read more

Texas Rangers (eliminated Sept. 23)

The Rangers will likely finish the season with the lowest team ERA in MLB. Their rotation was as effective as any in the sport, and despite a lack of high-priced relievers, their bullpen was terrific as well.

Everyone expected Jacob deGrom to pitch well on a per-inning basis, but few would’ve predicted that he would make 30 starts. The 37-year-old no longer averages 99 mph on his fastball, and he won’t rank among the league’s strikeout leaders, but he continues to limit baserunners as well as anyone. And until he went on the IL in late August due to a rotator cuff strain, Nathan Eovaldi could make a case that he was even more valuable than deGrom. The 35-year-old was steady in recent seasons but enjoyed an outstanding 2025 that included a memorable streak of allowing one or fewer runs in 13 of 14 starts from April 25 to Aug. 5. Read more

Star Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum might have the first endorsement deal in NBA history with a painkiller. The St. Louis native infamously tore his Achilles tendon vs. the New York Knicks in the 2025 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals, and was able to have groundbreaking surgery that may position him to return at record pace soon after he went down against the Knicks.

But the pain medicine Tatum got after the operation was an opioid that reportedly bothered him, spurring his doctors to prescribe a painkiller called Journavx that claims to be non-addictive and highly effective, per an interview in People magazine this week. Tatum recently talked about that medicine and his subsequent use of that painkiller (and how he became a spokesperson for it) on an episode of ESPN’s “NBA Today,” relating that “it’s been a long, long journey” (h/t Blazer Banter‘s Erik Garcia Gundersen).

“I just always reflect on surgery, and then you get your stitches out, and then you get your boot. And then at four weeks, you’re 50% weight-bearing,” added the former Blue Devil.

“Part of the reason I’m here is to announce my partnership with Vertex Pharmaceuticals,” continued the Celtics star. “It was a period where, at four weeks, I was introducing new things and starting to feel some discomfort and some pain.”

“That’s when I had a conversation with my doctor, and we went through my medical history,” he added, sounding every bit the protagonist in a drug commercial soon to be followed by a quieter voice speaking about potential adverse effects at a much faster rate.

Ar least, as others have noted in jest, we won’t have to worry about this popping up as a “no-show” job in some future league investigation.

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This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Is Jayson Tatum the first painkiller spokesperson in NBA history?

Will Chris Godwin play vs. Eagles? Buccaneers get monster injury update on star WR
originally appeared on The Sporting News

It has been a slow burn for Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver Chris Godwin in his return from a nasty ankle injury that ended his season early last year.

Given the wealth of options at Baker Mayfield’s disposal, Tampa Bay could afford to be cautious in Chris’ return, and now we are at Week 4, fans are wondering when they will see No. 14 back on the field.

Well, in what was a huge update on Wednesday, per ESPN’s Jenna Laine, Godwin was a full participant at practice.

That’s what we’re talking about.

But does that mean he could play Sunday vs. the Philadelphia Eagles? The Tampa Bay Times’ Rich Stroud posted on X, that if all goes well, Godwin “could” suit up against the Eagles.

MORE:Eagles’ Vic Fangio stirs QB debate over Baker Mayfield, questions why teams moved on

Chris Godwin return a big boost for offense

Given that Mike Evans is out, it might seem to be perfect timing that Godwin is back, and seemingly trending in the right direction to play. 

Now, it is worth noting that Chris has to get through the rest of the week before he can even be considered, and if he gets the green light, I don’t expect him to have a full workload. Godwin likely will be on a pitch count in his return.

Luckily, with Emeka Egbuka, Bucky Irving, and Sterling Shepard as Baker’s main weapons, being able to throw Godwin in for a handful of plays here and there will be hugely beneficial to Josh Grizzard’s offense.

Godwin is trending towards playing Sunday, which is great for the Buccaneers, just don’t expect the world from No. 14 straight away.

More Buccaneers news: 

• Buccaneers downplaying ‘battle-tested’ Eagles showdown
• Buccaneers get brutal Mike Evans injury update ahead of Eagles clash
• Buccaneers top of the pile in latest power rankings? | Sporting News
• Buccaneers’ Desmond Watson has new weight revealed after loss from 464 pounds | Sporting News

The San Francisco 49ers on Wednesday had six players out of practice because of injury and another six players limited by injury leading up to their Week 4 matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

While wide receiver Ricky Pearsall was among the players out of practice, he told ESPN’s Nick Wagoner he plans on playing Sunday. That’s good news for the 49ers, along with quarterback Brock Purdy continuing to participate in practice after missing Weeks 2 and 3 with a toe injury. He was a limited participant throughout Week 3 before being listed as questionable for the game. He was ruled out a few hours before kickoff. Head coach Kyle Shanahan said before Wednesday’s practice that there’s no clarity yet on Purdy’s potential availability in Week 4.

“Good,” Shanahan said of Purdy’s progress. “He’s better today than he was on Sunday and hopefully that will keep continuing.”

Here’s the full participation report from Wednesday’s practice:

Did not participate

• DE Nick Bosa (knee)
• DE Yetur Gross-Matos (knee)
• WR Jauan Jennings (ankle, shoulder)
• RB Christian McCaffrey (not injury related – resting player)
• WR Ricky Pearsall (knee)
• WR Jordan Watkins (claf)
• DT CJ West (thumb)
• LT Trent Williams (not injury related – resting player)

Limited participation

• OL Connor Colby (groin)
• DT Kalia Davis (ankle)
• CB Renardo Green (neck)
• QB Mac Jones (knee)
• CB Deommodore Lenoir (illness)
• QB Brock Purdy (shoulder, toe)

Full participation

• DE Mykel Williams (wrist)

More 49ers: 49ers promote DE Robert Beal Jr. from practice squad to help replace Nick Bosa

This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers injuries: 12 players out or limited in 1st Week 4 practice