вЂ¦ Also, the only shortstop who didnвЂ™t hit a slam for the Giants was Rich Aurilia. вЂ¦ And a guy who happens to be bigger than Draymond Green hit a leadoff home run. But allow me to catch you up on what you might have missed.ДЄ guy singled into a triple play. Not sure what you were watching besides baseball this week. So where does all this leave us? If the regular season ended today, here's what the playoff bracket would look like.

As for the non-contenders, the Diamondbacks and Padres could be eliminated from playoff contention as soon as Friday.

However, the Giants get six more head-t0-head cracks at the Dodgers, so it's far from settled.

In the NL West, the Dodgers are five games clear of the Giants.

The Cardinals and Giants on Thursday begin a four-game set in San Francisco that will be hugely determinative when it comes to that NL wild-card race.

In part, that's why SportsLine gives them the highest playoff percentage of any wild-card hopeful. Specifically, their final 16 games come against the Twins, Braves, Phillies, and Marlins.

The Mets obviously have a huge edge in the wild-card race when it comes to schedule.

Speaking of the Nats, they've got a magic number of seven in the NL East.

The Cubs can also play sub-.500 ball the rest of the way and still notch their first 100-win season since 1935. They also hold a hefty 6.5-game lead over the Nationals for top seed in the NL.

The Cubs' magic number in the NL Central is one, which means they clinch the flag with their next win or the Cardinals' next loss.

In second wild card position by 0.5 games

Elsewhere, the Rays, Angels, and Athletics could be eliminated from playoff contention Thursday night.

The Rangers are the closest to clinching a division title in the AL, as they'll enter play on Thursday with a magic number of eight.

As you can glean from the odds above, SportsLine right now expects the AL East to produce three playoff teams.

Those are long odds listed above, but they sound about right. Being 5.0 games out of playoff position sounds doable at first blush, but it's also about the fact that KC is sixth in line for that second AL wild-card berth.

No, SportsLine does not like the Royals' chances.

Having 10 home games left could be big for Seattle. Speaking of schedules, consider the Tigers and Mariners to get a bit of an edge on that front relative to their fellow wild-card contenders.Take care of business, and the Yankees will be in a good spot. On the other hand, they get direct, head-to-head shots at the Red Sox (seven times), Blue Jays (four times), and Orioles (three times). On the one hand, it's the toughest remaining schedule of any AL contender.

There are two sides to that tough road ahead for the Yankees.However, that remaining schedule makes such a finish at least conceivable. That's almost certainly not going to happen, especially once they start resting core players in advance of the playoffs. the Angels? Texas needs to go 13-2 to the rest of the way to get to 100 wins for the first time franchise history. Framed another way, the toughest teams left on their docket may be. The Rangers were already mortal locks in the AL West, but, man, take a gander at that remaining schedule.So with the 2016 regular season winding its way toward the end, let's see where our postseason aspirants stand at the moment.ДЇirst, let's lay out, in please internet table format, each contender's current record (as of Thursday morning), division/wild-card status, playoff percentage (i.e, their chances of making the postseason by any means) according to SportsLine, and finally their remaining strength of schedule (as expressed by the average winning percentage of their remaining opponents) and home/road games left.ДЄnd now a few observations on what we see above. We've reached the middle of September, and that means the race for those 10 playoff berths is at a critical stage.

Cubs magic number 1