The MLB season is reaching a fever pitch.
With one week remaining on the MLB schedule, 15 of the 30 teams entered Monday either in possession of a playoff spot or within one game of one.
Only two of the divisions have been decided — the Milwaukee Brewers won the NL Central and the Philadelphia Phillies won the NL East — while wild-card spots in both leagues are up for grabs.
Here are the races to keep an eye on between now and Sunday’s regular season finale:
AL East
The New York Yankees (88-68) were five games behind the division-leading Toronto Blue Jays (90-66) as recently as Sept. 16, but they’ve cut that deficit to two games with six to play.
Toronto holds the tiebreaker after winning the head-to-head season series, meaning the Yankees would need to finish at least a game ahead of the Blue Jays to win the East.
But the Yankees have the more favorable schedule, with back-to-back three-game series against last-place teams in the Chicago White Sox and Baltimore Orioles, all in the Bronx.
The Blue Jays also have six home games remaining, beginning with a three-game set against the playoff-hopeful Boston Red Sox. Toronto ends the season by hosting the Tampa Bay Rays over the weekend.
AL Central
The Cleveland Guardians are on the verge of incredible history.
After falling 15 1/2 games behind the Detroit Tigers on July 8, the red-hot Guardians have climbed nearly all the way back.
The Guardians (84-72) are now just a game behind the Tigers (85-71) — and the teams are set to face each other in a high-stakes three-game series in Cleveland beginning Tuesday.
Cleveland has won 15 of its last 17 games, while Detroit has dropped nine of 10, including the last six.
The Guardians would become the first team to trail by more than 15 games in a division race and come back to win it. They hold the edge in the season series with Detroit, 6-4, and can clinch the tiebreaker with a win in this week’s series.
AL West
This division was tied going into last weekend, but the Seattle Mariners swept the Houston Astros — in Houston, no less — to take a three-game lead.
Seattle owns the tiebreaker over Houston, too, making it effectively a four-game advantage.
The M’s have home series remaining against the Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Dodgers, while the Astros have road sets against the A’s and Los Angeles Angels.
AL wild card
This mix has been jumbled for weeks, but the Yankees finally created some separation with their recent hot streak.
The Yankees hold a three-game advantage for the top wild-card spot — which would mean home-field advantage in the wild-card round of the playoffs — over the second-place Red Sox.
And the Yankees have a four-game cushion over the teams fighting for the third and final wild-card position.
The Red Sox (85-71) are a game ahead of the Guardians and Astros (84-72). One of those three teams — or potentially the Tigers, should Cleveland overtake them — will be left out when the season ends.
NL West
The Dodgers (88-68) are closing in on their fourth consecutive division title.
They began Monday with a three-game lead over the San Diego Padres, and they held the tiebreaker, too.
That means the Padres (85-71), who host the Brewers and Arizona Diamondbacks this week, would need to make up four games on the Dodgers with six to play.
The Dodgers play the D-Backs and Mariners on the road this week.
NL wild card
The Chicago Cubs (88-86) hold the NL’s top wild-card spot, and the second-place Padres are three games behind them.
The real race is for the third wild-card position, which the Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets and Diamondbacks are all grappling for.
The Reds and Mets (both 80-76) are tied for the final spot, and the D-Backs (79-77) are a game behind them.
Cincinnati and Arizona both hold individual tiebreakers over the Mets, but if all three finished with the same record, the Reds would get the spot.
Story by Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News.
