The most important MLB series to watch in September as playoff picture comes into focus

The month of September is almost upon us, and in Major League Baseball, that welcomes the heart of the stretch drive. The final month of the regular season is the time for sorting out the various sundry playoff races and postseason berths, and that means a closer look at the remaining schedule is in order.

Let's do that now with an eye toward which series over the final four weeks or so of the regular season will determine who makes the postseason and who gets the two available first-round byes in each league — that is, the biggest series of September. For those squadrons right on the edge, every game is of course important. In this exercise, though, we're focusing on those games and series in which both sides have something to play for. Irrelevant tomato cans are not welcome beyond this point, which means the series we highlight must involve teams in playoff position or within playoff position going into the slate for Monday, Aug. 31.

On that front, much is at stake. Thanks in substantial measure to the overly permissive nature of the race for the third wild-card spot in the American League, a number of otherwise forgettable…

Original source: https://www.cbssports.com/