Tribe, Astros look to clinch divisions on MLB.TV

September 16th, 2017

Two American League contenders, the Indians and Astros, have a chance to clinch their divisions today, and fans can follow all the drama streaming live on MLB.TV.
The AL-leading Indians can clinch the Central if they beat the Royals and the Blue Jays beat the Twins. Cleveland, which had its historic 22-game win streak snapped Friday night, will give the ball to in its 4:10 p.m. ET matchup with the Royals, who counter with .
The Astros can clinch the AL West if they beat the Mariners and the Rangers beat the Angels. Houston will have its ace on the mound in left-hander , while the Mariners will start at Minute Maid Park at 1:05 p.m. ET.

"Our guys are aware," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. "We want to close this out as fast as possible, for a lot of reasons."
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Here's what to watch for throughout the day (all times ET):
NL Central rivals clash: STL@CHC, 4:05 p.m., MLB.TV
The Cubs and Cardinals go at it again today with momentum in the NL Central race hanging in the balance.
The Cubs got the better of the Cardinals on Friday in a volatile game that saw the ejections of and , then a seven-run Chicago rally an inning later. With the Cubs, Cards and Brewers all within four games of each other, the NL Central race remains one of the closest in baseball.

Facing off on the mound will be a pair of pitchers on recent hot streaks. The Cubs' is riding a streak of six straight quality starts and a 2.58 ERA since the All-Star break. The Cards' is coming off eight scoreless innings against the Pirates and has won his last three starts.
Dodgers try to keep rolling: LAD@WSH, 1:05 p.m.
The Dodgers are suddenly on a 3-game winning streak after their brutal stretch of 16 losses in 17 games. They're six games up for the No. 1 seed in the National League postseason after yesterday's 7-0 rout and could retake firm control of the race for the top with another win in D.C. Facing them will be A.J. Cole, who is making his first start for the Nats since Sept. 4.
As the Dodgers and Nationals continue to provide a possible NLCS preview in D.C, Rich Hill will do his best to get back on track since his near perfect game on Aug. 18. Since that day in Pittsburgh, he holds a 6.14 ERA and four losses in four starts.

Aces square off in San Francisco: ARI@SF, 9:05 p.m.Zack Greinke and have faced off in four straight seasons, going back to Greinke's time with the Dodgers, and will see each other again in the top pitching matchup of the night. Greinke is riding high as a top contender for the NL Cy Young Award, holding a 16-6 record, 2.99 ERA and 200 strikeouts in 186 1/3 innings.
On the other side, Bumgarner has taken some lumps recently. The ace has allowed a combined 11 earned runs and 15 hits in his last two starts, but he's also thrown at least seven innings in all three of his starts against Arizona this year.