Playoff Picture: Mariners climb within 1 game of wild card

Every night we take a look around the league and recap pennant and wild card races in baseball.

Here's a look at how Thursday's slate affected the playoff picture in the majors:

American League

• The Baltimore Orioles previously clinched the AL East.

• The Los Angeles Angels previously clinched the AL West

• Detroit and Kansas City were both off Thursday. The pair begin a three-game series at Kauffman Stadium on Friday, with Jason Vargas (11-9, 3.41 ERA) for the Royals and Justin Verlander (13-12, 4.81 ERA) for the Tigers taking the hill for the opener.  

• Oakland dropped a third straight game to the Texas Rangers to continue its September collapse and now hold a slim one-game lead in the second wild card. 
• A walk-off error gave New York a 3-2 win over Toronto in a game that saw Derek Jeter belt his first home run at Yankee Stadium this season.
• Cleveland knocked off Houston 2-1 in 13 innings to keep their thin playoff hopes alive. Indians pitchers are doing their part, as they've allowed six runs in their last four games. 
• Logan Morrison broke a scoreless tie with a three-run home run in the ninth inning as the Mariners beat the Angels 3-1. 

If the postseason started today ...

Wild Card:  Oakland at Kansas City

Division Series: Wild Card at Los Angeles I Detroit at Baltimore

National League

• The Washington Nationals previously clinched the NL East.

• Tony Cruz hit a walk-off single in the 13th inning as St. Louis put a serious dent in Milwaukee's playoff aspirations with a 3-2 win. 

• The Los Angeles Dodgers piled on five runs in the seventh inning to stage a come-from-behind victory over the Chicago Cubs and gain a half-game on the idle San Francisco Giants.

• Pittsburgh held on to a 3-2 win over the Boston Red Sox to put a 3 1/2-game lead between them and the Milwaukee Brewers. 

If the postseason started today ...

Wild Card: Pirates at Giants

Division Series: Wild Card at Nationals, Cardinals at Dodgers