It was the last day off of the regular season for the Royals, who were traveling home from Minnesota for the final six games of the year. Kansas City had been swept in both stops on the road trip, losing six in a row to Seattle and Minnesota. Those two teams were coming to town for the last week of the season.

Incredibly, the Royals were still the only team in baseball to be assured of a playoff spot. In the AL East, the Baltimore Orioles swept Boston in a doubleheader to keep their faint hopes alive. Baltimore ended the day 3.5 games behind New York; the Yankees had a magic number of two for a tie and three to clinch the division outright. New York had two games left in Cleveland and four at home against Detroit; Baltimore had two more in Boston before ending the season with three home games against Cleveland.

The National League featured two tight races. In the East, both Montreal and Philadelphia won, keeping the Expos a mere half-game ahead of the Phillies. Montreal had two games left with St. Louis and Philadelphia had three home games against Chicago before the two contenders had a season-ending showdown in Montreal on the last weekend.

In the NL West, all three contenders were idle on this Monday. Houston maintained a two-game lead over Los Angeles and three games over Cincinnati. The Reds had five home games left; two against San Diego and three against Atlanta. The Astros had three home games with Atlanta while the Dodgers were set for three games in San Francisco; the two contenders would then have their own season-ending showdown in Los Angeles for three games. The National League schedule makers deserved a raise.

Today’s birthdays: Mike McCormick (1938), Steve Busby (1949), Warren Cromartie (1953), Calvin Pickering (1976), Miguel Asencio (1980)