Stop.

The Padres are not tied with the Dodgers atop the NL West.

Not really, not with a 9-4 series win gifting the Dodgers the tiebreaker should the two teams still have identical records as they do after LA’s 8-2 win on Sunday.

Both teams are 74-57 with 31 games left.

Yes, the Padres missed an opportunity to fully control their own destiny when they lost a grip on a 2-1 lead on Sunday, but the position they’re in now is still as good as it’s been in quite some time.

“Exactly where we want to be,” the Padres’ Gavin Sheets said. “It’s a clean slate right now.”

 

1   |   Milwaukee Brewers (81-50, Last week: 1)

After injury limited him to 73 games last year, Christian Yelich leads the revitalized Brewers with 26 homers, the first time he’s hit more than 19 since 2019, when he hit 44 and finished second in NL MVP voting with.

2  |   Chicago Cubs (76-55, LW: 2)

A three-game sweep in Anaheim after taking three of five last week against the Brewers has the Cubs within five games of Milwaukee with about a month of baseball left. And that’s great, but the Cubs are all out of head-to-head matchups to make up ground.

3   |   Detroit Tigers (78-54, LW: 3)

No fluke: After winning his first Cy Young, left-hander Tarik Skubal leads the majors with 5.9 fWAR.

4   |   Philadelphia Phillies (76-54, LW: 6)

The Phillies will have three pitchers pick up Cy Young votes, but only two will be available in October as ace Zack Wheeler is done for the year as he looks to correct thoracic outlet syndrome.

5   |   Toronto Blue Jays (76-55, LW: 4)

The Blue Jays have weathered the storm with Vladimir Guerrero missing most of the week with a hamstring injury, but they need him back in there to hold off the Red Sox and Yankees.

6   |   Los Angeles Dodgers (74-57, LW: 5)

Can anyone really hate Shohei Ohtani? Not even a heckler riding the Dodgers’ star all weekend at Petco Park could stop himself from smiling after Ohtani came over to high-five him after a homer on Sunday.

7   |   San Diego Padres (74-57, LW: 7)

The so-called good problem to have — starting Ryan O’Hearn or Gavin Sheets — has been a lot easier to solve with Jackson Merrill on the injured list, but all eyes will be on that topic when the Padres’ 22-year-old center fielder returns from his ankle sprain, perhaps as soon as this weekend.

8   |   Boston Red Sox (71-60, LW: 9)

With 14 wins, a 2.38 ERA and 11.20 strikeouts per nine innings, Garrett Crochet is primed to thwart Tarik Skubal’s AL Cy Young defense.

9   |   New York Yankees (70-60, LW: 10)

Hard to believe Trent Grisham hitting a career-high 25 homers on top of what Aaron Judge does isn’t enough for the Yankees to be running away with the AL East.

10   |   Houston Astros (72-59, LW: 8)     

Waiting for Yordan: With Alvarez still on the injured list, Christian Walker hit three homers in three days to help keep Houston three games ahead of the Mariners in the AL West.

 

The rest

  • 11   |   New York Mets (69-61, LW: 13)
  • 12  |   Seattle Mariners (70-61, LW: 11)
  • 13   |   Cincinnati Reds (68-63, LW: 12)
  • 14   |   Texas Rangers (66-66, LW: 14)
  • 15   |   Kansas City Royals (67-64, LW: 16)
  • 16   |   Tampa Bay Rays (63-67, LW: 15)
  • 17   |   Arizona Diamondbacks (64-67, LW: 18)
  • 18   |   St. Louis Cardinals (64-67, LW: 19)
  • 19   |   San Francisco Giants (63-68, LW: 20)
  • 20   |   Cleveland Guardians (64-65, LW: 17)
  • 21   |   Atlanta Braves (59-71, LW: 24)
  • 22   |   Miami Marlins (61-69, LW: 23)
  • 23   |   Los Angeles Angels (61-69, LW: 22)
  • 24   |   Baltimore Orioles (60-70, LW: 25)
  • 25   |   Minnesota Twins (59-71, LW: 21)
  • 26   |   Sacramento Athletics (56-70, LW: 26)
  • 27   |   Pittsburgh Pirates (57-74, LW: 27)
  • 28   |   Washington Nationals (53-77, LW: 28)
  • 29   |   Chicago White Sox (47-83, LW: 29)
  • 30   |   Colorado Rockies (37-94, LW: 30)