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MLB Playoff Picture: 3 things to know from Thursday

Hannah Foslien / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Every night, we look around Major League Baseball and identify three things you need to know about the playoff races. Here's what happened Thursday:

Tigers grab wild-card spot from slumping O's

Backed by a pair of strong outings from Anibal Sanchez and Justin Verlander, the Detroit Tigers swept their doubleheader against the Minnesota Twins and yanked the second American League wild-card berth away from the Baltimore Orioles, who fell 5-3, to cap a four-game sweep at the hands of the impregnable Boston Red Sox.

Out of a postseason spot for the first time all season, the Orioles were one of three AL wild-card hopefuls to take a step back Thursday, as the Houston Astros lost, 2-0, to the Los Angeles Angels and the New York Yankees also endured a 2-0 blanking in their series finale against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.

Heading into Friday, the Tigers sit just one game back of the Toronto Blue Jays, who hold the top wild-card berth, while the Astros, Seattle Mariners, and Yankees are all within three games of Detroit.

Mets, Giants storm past Cards in wild-card race

When the St. Louis Cardinals get back to work Friday following their final off-day of the season, they'll do so looking to reclaim a playoff spot, as the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets - who, at 80-72, were tied with St. Louis when they took the field Thursday - grabbed hold of the two National League wild-card berths with respective victories. The Giants' bullpen, as is their wont, made it interesting at Petco Park, but managed to eke out a 2-1 victory over the San Diego Padres, while Adsdrubal Cabrera's epic, walk-off bomb helped the Mets stave off the Philadelphia Phillies, 9-8.

Now on the outside looking in, albeit with a game in hand, the Cardinals will need to keep their momentum going - they've won four of their last five - as a three-game series against the NL Central champion Chicago Cubs looms.

Indians, Red Sox boster bids for top AL seed

While there's little doubt the Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians, and Boston Red Sox won't be hitting the golf course for a little while, the playoff seeding situation in the American League got a little more interesting Thursday for the presumptive division champions.

Though the Rangers were at one point considered a lock to finish with the best record in the league, guaranteeing them home-field advantage throughout the postseason, the Indians pulled within a 1/2-game of Texas with a 5-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday, while the Red Sox sit only one game back of the top spot after sweeping Baltimore and extending their season-best winning streak to eight games.

If the playoffs started today:

SERIES AWAY HOME
AL WC Tigers Blue Jays
NL WC Giant Mets
ALDS DET or TOR Rangers
ALDS Red Sox Indians
NLDS SF or NYM x-Cubs
NLDS Dodgers Nationals

x = clinched division

Race to clinch the division:

Division TEAM MAGIC #
AL EAST Red Sox 5
AL CENTRAL Indians 4
AL WEST Rangers 1
NL EAST Nationals 2
NL CENTRAL Cubs Clinched
NL WEST Dodgers 4

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