The playoff spots are almost locked up, if not the slots, but we’ll let that play out. Meanwhile … Monday’s six shutouts made 340 this year — one more than 1968, and second-most in the live-ball era (1972, 357). But there are many more teams now. This year’s shutout rate as a percentage of all games is 7.3%, ranking 22nd out of 95 live-ball seasons; 1968 and ’72 rank one-two at 10.4% and 9.6%. There really is no basis for likening this season (4.08 runs per team-game) to 1968 (3.42) or even ’72 (3.69). Just don’t try telling that to those who’ve watched the Pirates and Padres of late….

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Mon. 9/22: PIT 1, @ATL 0 — Andrew McCutchen’s 6th-inning solo stood up behind Francisco Liriano’s sixth straight gem, giving the Bucs their second 1-0 win in a row, and a magic number of two to clinch a wild card. Liriano has a 2.11 ERA in 13 second-half starts (2 runs or less 12 times), and 0.69 in his last six turns, with 20 singles, 2 doubles and a homer over 39 IP.

• No-spoiler alert: Playing their first game in about a month against a team with a real stake in the outcome, Atlanta’s lifeless lineup looked every bit the squad that helped to get their GM canned and put their skipper on the clock: 4 singles, 0-5 with RISP (3 Ks).
• Here’s the last time Pittsburgh won by 1-0 back-to-back: a meaningless last-day home doubleheader in 1976. Game two was a walk-off win, the first RBI for Tony Armas.

Tues. 9/23: PIT 3, @ATL 2 — Welcome back to Buctober! There’s no contender hotter than the Pirates, enjoying their best month all year with a 15-3 stretch. The momentum means little, but their rotation and lineup both are in good form. And the division title’s still in play.

• McCutchen was on base all four trips in this game, and has scored four of Pittsburgh’s five runs over three straight one-run wins. A hot finish has virtually sealed his third straight year of .300 BA/.400 OBP/.500 SLG; six others have one apiece in the same span. Cutch is in line for his first league OBP and OPS+ titles; since 2012, he’s 3rd in OPS+, 2nd in offensive WAR. I’d still vote Kershaw for the MVP, and he may get it; but there’ll be no crime if Andrew wins again.

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Mon. 9/22: STL 8, @CHC 0 — Pitcher wins may have lost some significance, but the cachet of “20-game winner” will last as long some still turn the trick. And Adam Wainwright’s second 20-win season is worthy of all the respect that phrase commands. He’s averaged one run allowed per win, joining Clayton Kershaw as the only 20-winners since Pedro 2002 who yielded one run or less in wins. (Clayton’s the only one since 1914 with two of those 20-win, one-run-per-win years.) Comparing their wins alone, it’s tough to tell those two apart:

• Kershaw, 151.2 IP, 19 runs, 25 walks, 4 HRs
• Waino, 152.2 IP, 20 runs, 26 walks, 4 HRs

Kershaw has the big edge in Ks, of course, so he’ll likely win (and earn) his third Cy Young Award, with Wainwright placing second for the third time. (How many sets of steak knives can one man use, anyway?) But October is a different season.

• Wainwright’s 12 scoreless starts are the most since Gibson’s 13, which is a live-ball record shared by Koufax and Chance.

Tues. 9/23: @CHC 4, STL 3 (10 inn.) —

Wed. 9/24: @CHC 3, STL 1 — Jake Arrieta did it all: a two-out, two-run triple on an 0-2 pitch from John Lackey (after light-hitting Logan Watkins was passed on purpose), and 10 strikeouts, no earned runs, in seven two-hit frames.

• I thought Pedro Strop was done by the time he came from Baltimore along with Arrieta. Given his career-long control problems, his 2.44 ERA in 2012 seemed a pure fluke. But he’s been very good for the Cubs — 2.39 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, just 3 HRs in 94 IP since last July. With Arrieta’s 2.81 ERA in 34 Cubs starts, that’s some take for a half-year of Scott Feldman plus a third-string catcher.
• Javier Baez is in a race against time. He needs 10 strikeouts in the last 3 games to reach 100 Ks in fewer trips than any other batter. Baez is averaging a little less than two whiffs per game, but does already own a 3-game stretch with 10 Ks. And I don’t think the team will shield him; he’s hit 2nd every game, despite batting .161.

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Mon. 9/22: @OAK 8, LAA 4 — The Angels have baseball’s best offense and best record, but their rotation is in tatters. C.J. Wilson has stunk most of the year, never more than here — four walks out of eight batters (forcing in a pair), 12 strikes out of 35 pitches, recording just two outs before the hook. Matt Shoemaker missed his last turn, and Hector Santiago lasted three total innings in his last two. Garrett Richards is but a memory. Jered Weaver has been steady and durable, and even with a 3.52 ERA, he’s a solid Game 1 starter. If Shoemaker can’t go, you’d guess that Wilson gets Game 2, despite his 4.62 ERA (6th-worst of AL qualifiers) and AL-worst walk total. And then? Santiago’s a 5-inning man at best, as is Wade LeBlanc(!), while stopgap-starter Cory Rasmus has yet to last into the 5th. Their big offensive numbers come from pounding losing teams; against teams at .500+, the Angels are league-average. Their first-round series could be a bigger test than you’d expect.

• Oakland’s 8 runs were the most in MLB this year without an extra-base, and just the second time the Oakland A’s ever did that.

Tues. 9/23: LAA 2, @OAK 0 —

Wed. 9/24: LAA 5, @OAK 4 — As usual, I know nothing. Two scoreless starts, albeit sixteen outs apiece, as the Angels edged closer to 100 wins and locking up home-field advantage for as long as they should last. Meanwhile, here’s how things have gone for Oakland this month: Mike Trout’s error put Josh Donaldson on third with none out in the 4th, Angels up 3-0; Kole Calhoun nailed Donaldson at home on a medium fly to end the inning. Errors by Josh Reddick and Donaldson helped boost it up to 5-0 by the 7th, when the A’s finally stirred, getting the go-ahead runs aboard, but Adam Dunn struck out to end it.

• The A’s still lead the M’s by 3 games for the last wild card, but remember: The Angels finish with 3 games in Seattle starting Friday, by which time they might have nothing left to play for. Oakland plays four in Texas, and the Rangers suddenly have won 11 out of 12, including their second sweep in Oakland this year.

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Mon. 9/22: KCR 2, @CLE 0 — Cleveland collected the low-lying fruit by closing out the suspended game, but Danny Duffy returned from shoulder woes to dampen their long-shot hopes with six deft frames of scoreless ball, toting the 2-0 lead to KC’s lock-down late men. Nori Aoki’s two-out steal and Eric Hosmer’s hit made an up-front dent in red-hot Carlos Carrasco, and the Tribe blew their best chance in the home 1st: bags full, none out … pop-up, whiff, fly ball. The Royals manufactured another in the 5th on Omar Infante’s leadoff double, a groundout to the right side, and a shot to short too sharp for Jose Ramirez to knock down.

• KC closed within a game of first place, thanks to Detroit’s 2-0 loss to rookie Chris Bassit, and opened a 2.5-game bulge on the sinking Mariners. Cleveland stayed 3.5 behind the wild card, now with just five left on their slate.
• Duffy’s 2.32 ERA is 4th-best of those with 20 starts this year. His mates have tallied twice or less in 14 of his 23 turns; his 1.94 ERA in those games has produced just a 2-9 record.
• Brandon Finnegan was drafted this June out of TCU, and after 27 innings on the farm, the smallish 21-year-old southpaw is getting key outs in a pennant race. Ned Yost gave Finnegan the 7th tonight (Kelvin Herrera having gotten five outs Sunday), and stuck with him after a two-out double. Finnegan fought back from 3-and-0 on Ramirez and whiffed him.
• Suspended games play hob with the space-time continuum: Terrance Gore debuted on Sept. 2, but now he’s bagged his first steal and run on “August 31.”

Tues. 9/23: KCR 7, @CLE 1 — Yordano Ventura pitched the Royals to the brink of playoff certainty with his 11th straight quality start, a franchise best since Kevin Appier at the end of 1993.

• Ventura is 8th in AL ERA and ERA+, and 6th in QS percentage (22/29), all best among Royals qualifiers. He’s gone nine starts without a homer, 4th-best in MLB this year, best for KC since Zack Greinke’s Cy Young year.

Wed. 9/24: @CLE 6, KCR 4 — And then, Brandon Finnegan was not getting key outs in a pennant race. He relieved an ineffective Jason Vargas in the 5th and quickly let in the tying and lead runs, as Cleveland ducked the sweep, dodged elimination, and knocked the Royals two games behind Detroit, with four to play. Jose Ramirez boomed a double in that rally, and Yan Gomes slugged a 3-run shot off Vargas.

Carlos Santana’s 3 walks gave him 112 this year, a total reached by only Jim Thome in Cleveland history. Thome, #7 on the career walks list, reached 118 five times between 1996 and 2002.

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Mon. 9/22: CHW 2, @DET 0 — Ah, well … If my Tigers wind up tied for the division crown, at least they’ll host the playoff game.

• Rookie Chris Bassitt avenged his debut loss to Detroit, earning his first win via 7.2 scoreless frames. The list of other superstars to blank the Bengals for that long this year: Ricky Nolasco, Danny Salazar, Shane Greene, Roenis Elias, Andrew Cashner.
• Miguel Cabrera recently became the 4th player with 300 total bases for at least 11 straight years, joining Lou Gehrig (13), Willie Mays (13), and Albert Pujols (12). The all-time top two in total bases, Hank Aaron and Stan Musial, peaked at 9 and 10 straight, with Stan’s 296 breaking up a 15-year run, and Hank’s 293 and 296 “marring” a 17-year span.

Tues. 9/23: @DET 4, CHW 3 — Holy crap … I mean, hooray! The Tigers struck another blow against the notion of momentum in baseball, mounting a brisk, three-legged walk-off rally to keep sole hold on first place, just minutes after David Price was let to blow a 3-0 lead in the top of the 9th.

Price was at 3 hits, no walks and 95 pitches as he set out to finish, having put away 16 of the last 17 ChiSox. But quicker than you can say “uh-oh,” Jose Abreu stepped in as the tying run. Surely Brad Ausmus would act; Abreu’s hitting .354/1.091 off southpaws (including this part of a Price meltdown in April), and there were only righty bats behind him. But no: Price dispatched him with three straight strikes. Then Avisail Garcia’s single made it 3-2. Well, nice try, David, but your night’s over; we’ve got your back. Right? What modern manager would leave his starter in at this point in a crucial game?

Only one with no confidence in his closer. A first-pitch fly got Price the second out, but Paul Konerko — who came in 10 for 23 with 2 home runs against him — pulled a 1-2 slider into left, sending the tying run to third.

Four hits in the inning, Price up to 110 pitches. I can’t prove it, but I can’t believe any starter this year has been left in such a situation. But here’s Marcus Semien, career .274 hitter against lefties (.219 off righties), and there’s Price still on the hill. A 2-1 count, another hit, game tied, lead run on third. And finally the bullpen door swings open, sending Joe Nathan in to face a stunned and surly mob that doesn’t like him to begin with.

But Miggy, they like.

• Home 7th, Tigers up 1-0, man on 1st with no outs, after a pitching change. Eugenio Suarez tried to sacrifice, but they forced Alex Avila at second. I hate this play. Ronald Belisario has been awful; you do him a favor by donating an out, and Avila’s not the easiest man to advance. But the ChiSox returned the gift with another infield error, fueling a 2-run frame.

Wed. 9/24: @DET 6, CHW 1 — The subtext of Tuesday’s near-disaster was the looming presence of Chris Sale for the series finale. Sure enough, the Condor shut them out into the 6th, fanning Miggy three straight times, two with men on second base. But Sale’s own subtext put a man aboard for J.D. Martinez, whose 30th double set up the tying run; and once Chicago’s bullpen hit the scene, the rout was on. Justin Verlander finished a trying regular season on the upswing, eight efficient innings (no walks, 6 Ks) in his second strong game in a row, with a season-best 70 Game Score — and the win that wound up clinching Detroit’s fourth straight postseason berth.

• J.D.’s double made six Bengals with 30 two-baggers, two more than any other club this year. Besides leading the majors in BA and OBP, Detroit leads non-Coors-based teams in slugging, extra-base hits and total bases. But the Angels have outscored them, 4.83 to 4.70 per game.
• Cabrera finished with 4 Ks for just the third time in his career. (Albert Pujols had his first 4-K game two weeks ago.)

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Mon. 9/22: @TOR 14, SEA 4 — A bad time for James Paxton to lay his first egg, and what an ostrich: Six walks fueled 9 runs in the first three frames, digging the hole for Seattle’s third straight loss. The worst of Paxton’s 15 prior starts was 4 runs, once, with just one earned run in that game.

Tues. 9/23: @TOR 10, SEA 2 — Oh, dear. Nothing good ever happens with a 43-pitch inning from your ace.

How can a game, a season, fall apart so fast? When the Mariners battered Houston Friday, they tied KC for a wild card, with two more to play in that series, while the Royals still were struggling with their nemesis, Detroit. But the bottom fell out of their rotation. Chris Young, Hisashi Iwakuma, James Paxton and now King Felix combined to let in 28 runs over 14.2 innings, none getting through the 5th. Felix rolled into that frame with a 2-1 lead tonight, retiring 11 in a row after a 1st-inning scratch. Then Dalton Pompey blew up a 3-1 pitch for his first homer, Anthony Gose ripped a 1-2 double, Josh Thole bunted for a hit, and soon the nightmare was in full effect.

• It’s crass to even think of such a thing with M’s fans in mourning, but Felix’s Cy Young hopes took a big hit tonight. His ERA ballooned from 2.07 (#1) to 2.34, 2nd to Sale, and not much better than Lester and Kluber (2.41, 2.53). Kluber has the strikeout lead, and Lester the pennant-race impact.
• Back when it seemed to matter, Robinson Cano reversed a 1-0 deficit with a two-out, two-run in the 3rd. He’s had some RISP scuffles in the past, but he ranks 3rd in OPS this year (around 1.100) out of almost 200 hitters with 100+ RISP chances, and 2nd in RISP gain over season total.

Wed. 9/24: @TOR 1, SEA 0 — Aaaaarrrrggghhh! The carnage of 42 runs against Seattle in their past four games hid how their offense also folded, with a .252 OBP producing 1, 3, 4 and then 2 runs. And although Taijuan Walker stopped the most visible hemorrhage, a two-out bloop in the 8th put Toronto on the board, and Mark Buehrle helped complete the pattern with eight scoreless frames for his 199th win. A hit to start the 9th raised hopes that Robinson Cano might come to bat, but then a picked-off pinch-runner dashed all that.

• James Jones had been caught just once, and picked off once, while swiping 27 bags.
• Austin Jackson’s 0-4 included three Ks, two looking with a man in scoring position. With RISP this year, he’s hit .227, and whiffed .336. I still root for this ex-Tiger, but wow, has he stunk for Seattle — 19 runs scored in 50 games, all leading off, and a .275 OBP.

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Mon. 9/22: SFG 5, @LAD 2 (13 inn.) — The difference in Brandon Belt’s two attempts to score in extra innings: Yasiel Puig’s 13 assists vs. Carl Crawford’s nada.

• We’re two years in with this collection of Dodger talent, but they still play more like an All-Star Team than a baseball team. Could that help to explain why they’re just 24-33 versus winning teams?

Tues. 9/23: @LAD 4, SFG 2 —

Madison Bumgarner is the first San Francisco Giants pitcher to hit 4 home runs in a season. Johnny Antonelli and Jim Hearn both hit 4 HRs for the 1955 New York Giants. More than four: Only Hal Schumacher (6 in ’34), Art Nehf (5 in ’24) and Jouett Meekin (5 in 1894). Meekin went 33-9 that year, combining with Amos Rusie for 79 of the Giants’ 88 wins.

• Bumgarner connected on an 0-2 pitch — the first on that count by a pitcher (and the first allowed by Greinke) in over two years.

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Mon. 9/22: @NYY 5, BAL 0 — Jose Pirela tripled in his first big-league at-bat — the first Yankee to do that (or triple at any time in his first game) since … really? Pirela’s hit gave Ichiro his 1,301st run, and the rookie then came in on Derek Jeter’s 1,305th RBI. Jeter delivered again in the 5th, a two-out, two-run double after Pirela’s second hit.

• Meanwhile, Michael Pineda yielded a single and a walk over 7.1 IP, fanning eight Birds. His 0.86 WHIP would be the best ever by a Yankee with at least 10 starts, and his 0.9 W/9 and 7.0 K/W second-best. His 1.93 ERA would join only Ron Guidry in their sub-2.00 club since 1943, again with 10+ starts.
• Two other Yanks tripled in their debut game: Charlie Silvera (1948), who would hit just one more in his 10-year career as Yogi’s backup, and Joe DiMaggio (1936).

Tues. 9/23: BAL 5, @NYY 4 — A capsule of the Yanks’ scrappy season, hanging in to the end although they were out-hit 17-6 and out-homered 3-1.

• Nelson Cruz and Frank Robinson are the only RHBs to knock 40 HRs for the Orioles/Browns.
• The O’s tied another mark with their 14th win by a starting pitcher lasting exactly 5 innings. Tony LaRussa’s 1989 A’s were the first to do it. (We’re looking at you, Storm Davis, with a record-tying six such wins in your absurd 19-7, 4.36 ERA, 169-IP season.)

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Mon. 9/22: @SDP 1, COL 0 — If you didn’t half-expect this start to Colorado’s final road trip, you just haven’t tracked the trends. The Padres are among MLB’s best home teams this year (now 47-32), while the Rox are the runaway road losers (20-56) — and their seesaw swings are getting wilder as the year winds down. From August 8:

• 1-5 road trip, 3.17 R/G.
• 6-3 homestand, 6.11 R/G.
• 2-5 road trip, 1.71 R/G.
• 5-1 homestand, 7.00 R/G.
• 0-6 road trip, 1.33 R/G.
• 6-1 homestand, 9.14 R/G.

Meanwhile … If 8 runs or less are totaled in the last two games of this series, there will have been fewer runs scored by in San Diego home games (by both teams) than by the Rockies alone in their home games. The Pads have yielded 2.91 runs per home game, the lowest since the 1988 Mets.

• Monday’s winner, Eric Stults, has lost 15 games in which the Friars scored 0-2 runs — the most such defeats in the last quarter-century.

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Tues. 9/23: @MIN 8, ARI 3 — That’s right, Kyle Gibson fans: Seven innings, one run, his 14th start yielding one run or less, tied for 4th in the majors (Wainwright 17, Kershaw 16, King Felix 15). His eight scoreless starts stand alone behind Waino’s 12, although Gibson has started just 30 games. And yet, his season ERA is 4.50. He’s allowed 14 runs total in his 13 wins, which isn’t spectacular; eight others this year with at least 10 starting wins have ratios that good. But Gibson’s 64 runs in 11 losses (12.61 RA/9) is the 11th-highest rate since 1914 for at least 10 starting losses. Baseball!

Wed. 9/24: @MIN 2, ARI 1 — Minnesota’s open-air stadium paid a $500,000 dividend, as heavy rain late in the game cost Phil Hughes a contract bonus. The best line in that story: “Ron Gardenhire told reporters after the game that he will not use Hughes out of the bullpen this weekend.” Did someone really ask that question with a straight face?

• Besides setting an all-time mark with his 11.63 K/W ratio — 186 Ks and 16 walks, split perfectly home and away — Hughes notched the lowest walk rate since 2005 (0.69 W/9), and finished on a 21-start string with one walk or less, also the best since 2005.
• GM Terry Ryan can celebrate the 3-year, $24-million contract he gave Hughes last winter, which seemed a big reach for a guy who’d averaged less than 1 WAR over his past four seasons, but now looks like a bargain. Maybe he’ll even find a way to spend that saved half-mil on stopping his team’s 4-year run of 90+ losses.
• Vidal Nuno pitched pretty after joining Arizona — 3.76 ERA, 3.5 K/W and 6 IP/G — but they lost 13 of his 14 starts. The Snakes are two losses away from the second-worst record in franchise history.

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Random Notes

In the wake of Corey Kluber’s consecutive 14-K outings:

• Since 1914, back-to-back 15 strikeout starts have been achieved only by Dwight Gooden (1984), Roger Clemens (1988) and Pedro Martinez (twice in 1999, and in 2000). Pedro’s first ’99 pair came in the midst of a record-tying seven straight double-digit efforts, while the second set was the fulcrum of a record-shattering eight-game streak with at least 11 Ks.
• Only Gooden reached 16 Ks consecutively, each with no walks — the only searchable back-to-back starts with no walks and 12 strikeouts or more. (Those two games followed his one-hitter, which happened to be the first Mets game I attended.)

With 6.0 WAR and 370 plate appearances, Steve Pearce is on the verge of the highest WAR ever with less than 400 PAs; 22nd-best by offensive WAR alone. It would rate among the top 150 modern years by WAR per game with 50+ games.

Jorge De La Rosa is the only starter ever with 10 wins in a year in Coors Field, and he’s done it three times. He’s the career leader in Coors wins, by 45-36 over Aaron Cook.