The Washington Nationals hold the top spot in the wild-card race in the National League.
But the road to a possible postseason berth will not be easy. The Nationals (79-63) play 17 of their final 20 games against teams with winning records.
That begins Tuesday night with the start of a three-game series in Minnesota against the first-place Twins.
Washington needs to go 11-9 to reach 90 wins — normally a good barometer of a playoff spot.
The Chicago Cubs (76-67) play seven of their last 19 against teams with winning records. The Arizona Diamondbacks (75-69) lost Sunday and Monday after winning 10 of 11, but after they wrap up this week’s series against the New York Mets, they will they have just one more against a winning team — three games with the 81-62 St. Louis Cardinals in the last week of the season.
The Milwaukee Brewers were 75-68 through Monday. The Nationals, Cubs, Brewers and Arizona each face St. Louis in the final weeks of the year.
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