It’s going down to the wire for the Orioles and Yankees. And, while both teams have clinched playoff berths, the AL East is still for the taking, and Baltimore wants to grab hold, not content for a Wile Card spot.

Shortstop Alcides Escobar homered and added an RBI single in a two-run fifth that helped propel the Royals to a 4-2 win that evened the series with the Tigers on Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium.

The Nationals began the night needing either a win over the Phillies or a Braves loss to the Pirates. They got the latter, clinching the National League East without ever scoring a run.

Chances are Bobby Valentine wasn’t the manager who first theorized: “It isn’t the best team that wins, it’s the team that plays best.” He couldn’t support the premise of the theory Monday when he brought his broken-beyond-repair Red Sox to Yankee Stadium.

It wasn’t a stretch like last year’s 12-game winning streak that pushed the Tigers to a second straight American League Central title, but it was some of their best, most consistent play that swung the race, largely against teams they were supposed to beat.

Maybe this wasn’t quite as catastrophic a collapse as what happened to the Red Sox and Braves a year ago. But it was certainly an alarming fall from grace, given that the White Sox had spent 117 days on top of the American League Central this season.

For practical reasons, Giants manager Bruce Bochy might not commit himself to naming a probable starting pitcher for Games 3 and 4 of the Division Series until the first two games have been played.

It’s a long shot for the Dodgers to make the playoffs, but manager Don Mattingly still has his pitchers preparing as if they will be playing past Wednesday’s regular-season finale.

Adrian Beltre was in the lineup, one day after coming out of Game 2 of Sunday’s doubleheader with a strained left shoulder. But Beltre started at designated hitter instead of third base.

Jeff Locke pitched two-hit ball for six innings to pick up his first Major League win as the Pirates downed the Braves, 2-1, on Monday night at PNC Park.

With their inconsistent offense sputtering yet again at PNC Park on Monday night, the Braves suffered a 2-1 loss to the Pirates and officially ended their bid to create the miraculous finish that would have been necessary to overtake the Nationals in the NL East race.

Brett Anderson and the A’s walked away encouraged enough from his bullpen session Monday that he remains a possibility to start a potential Wild Card play-in game Friday.

Chris Nelson continued his strong finish to a difficult Rockies season with three hits, including a go-ahead RBI single in the 13th inning of a 7-5 victory over the D-backs on Monday night at Chase Field.

The Dodgers kept their season alive for at least another day with a dramatic 3-2 win over the Giants on Monday night, rookie Elian Herrera’s walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning scoring Hanley Ramirez.

Oakland’s run to the postseason has been no ordinary story. The A’s never thought this would be their year. When general manager Billy Beane began retooling his roster last winter, it was with an eye on rebuilding and maybe competing again in 2013 or ’14.

The word that Dusty Baker kept coming back to was “blessed.” When Baker returned to his managing role Monday at Busch Stadium he looked fit, he sounded fine, and his perspective on life, which was always solidly positive anyway, was better than ever.

Orioles right-hander Jason Hammel threw a five-inning simulated game Monday afternoon with no problems in regards to his right knee, and the 30-year-old is a candidate to start a postseason game for the club later this week.