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ade that sent Giancarlo Stanton from the Marlins to the Yankees , there was another deal involving Miami that has turned out to have quite an impact on the postseason race.Christian Yelich was sent from the Marlins to Milwaukee in late January, and his second-half surge at the plate has the Brewers in good position to play on into October. If the season ended now, Milwaukee would be the National League’s top wild card, and the division title is still in play for the Brewers, who trail the Cubs by only 2½ games in the NL Central. Milwaukee can thank Yelich, who is hitting .343 with a .700 slugging percentage since the All-Star break.There’s been some discussion lately about whether a pitcher might win the NL MVP award, and that’s in part because the top position players haven’t really distinguished themselves. But Yelich’s work down the stretch for a team in contention has been impressive. The Brewers gave up a highly regarded prospect in Lewis Brinson to acquire Yelich. So far it’s working out nicely.Milwaukee ranks in the middle of the pack in the NL in both runs and ERA, and the bullpen that was so stellar early this season can only do so much. Despite their flaws, the Brewers have won 17 of their last 25 games, solidifying their postseason chances at a time when teams like the Phillies and Diamondbacks have stumbled.Elsewhere around the majors:WRAPPED UPThe Cleveland Indians clinched their third straight AL Central title Saturday, becoming the first team this season to win a division. It was almost a year to the day since last season’s Indians clinched. Cleveland secured the 2017 AL Central crown on Sept. 16, the day after the team’s historic 22-game winning streak was snapped.The Indians won 102 games last season but lost in the Division Series. This year’s team can’t finish any better than 96-66 and will likely have the worst record of any American League playoff team, but Cleveland is certainly good enough to beat anyone in a short series.The Indians will likely open the playoffs against either Houston or Oakland.HIGHLIGHTCredit Tyler Austin for the hustle. During an otherwise nondescript matchup Sunday between the Twins and Royals — who are a combined 58 games under .500 — the Minnesota first baseman made a running catch in foul ground and then went tumbling over a railing near the dugout. Austin also homered to help the Twins win 9-6.LINE OF THE WEEKLike the Indians, the Los Angeles Dodgers have slipped a bit after cruising through the 2017 regular season. Unlike Cleveland, the Dodgers are in a division that’s good enough to make them pay. So Los Angeles still has a fight on its hands just to make the postseason. If the Dodgers do get in , they can look back on Saturday night’s game at St. Louis as one of the key moments. That’s when Yasiel Puig hit three home runs to lift Los Angeles over the Cardinals 17-4.The Cardinals rebounded with a 5-0 victory Sunday night, knocking the Dodgers a half-game behind Colorado atop the NL West. Los Angeles is tied with St. Louis for the second wild card. MINNEAPOLIS (AP) The Minnesota Twins lost two more teammates to trades before the game.They finished the night, at least, in a better mood.Mitch Garver drove in the winning run with a one-out double in the ninth inning, capping a 5-4 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Monday night and triggering the familiar bucket-dumping celebration in the infield after he rounded second base.The Twins had more cold water poured on their disappointing season in the afternoon, when reliever Zach Duke and starter Lance Lynn were sent away in separate deals for more minor leaguers.”That was a big win for us as a group, as a group of brothers,” Garver said. ”We lost some key guys to our team this year, and to come back and kind of put that one away and finish that game like is pretty exciting for us.”Jose Ramirez hit two home runs for Cleveland to match Boston’s J.D. Martinez for the most in the majors with 32, but the Indians fell to 3-7 against the Twins this season. The Twins still trail by eight games in the AL Central, not nearly close enough for the front office to halt the sell-off two-thirds of the way through this disappointing season. Eduardo Escobar, who thrived at third base while Miguel Sano was out, and reliever Ryan Pressly were dealt for prospects on Friday.”It’s really good way to start the series, especially with all the tumultuous things that have been going on,” manager Paul Molitor said.Sano , who hit an RBI single earlier and went 2 for 3 for his first hits in the majors since June 12, drew a walk to start the ninth against Neil Ramirez (0-1). Jake Cave advanced pinch-runner Ehire Adrianza with a sacrifice bunt. Then Garver delivered the deep drive to left-center field.Fernando Rodney (3-2) pitched a scoreless ninth, striking out Yonder Alonso with runners at second and third. He struck out Ramirez two batters before that.Twins starter Ervin Santana got one out in the sixth before being removed, allowing four runs on six hits and two walks, and gave up both of Ramirez’s homers before another solo shot by Yan Gomes that gave the Indians a 3-2 lead in the fifth.Jorge Polanco’s two-run single in the bottom of that inning against Shane Bieber put the Twins in front, but Santana lost the lead again when Cave made an ill-advised dive for a sinking line drive by Alonso to center field. That went for an RBI double to score Edwin Encarnacion from first base with one out.HOLD TIGHTBieber allowed four runs, three earned, on six hits in 6 1/3 innings, a sharp improvement from the seven runs in 1 2/3 innings he gave up to Pittsburgh last week.”I felt more like myself tonight,” Bieber said.SLUMP? NOT SO MUCHRamirez hit his 31st homer on a full count in the first inning against Santana, a no-doubt drive to right field that stopped a hitless stretch of 17 at-bats. Ramirez had 11 walks during those seven-plus games.”Sometimes the pitchers are throwing you a lot of strikes. Sometimes they’re throwing balls. So I just stay focused on trying to get my pitches and, yeah, I feel normal,” Ramirez said through a translator.TRADE ADJUSTMENTSThe Twins announced Adalberto Mejia will start on Wednesday afternoon, taking Lynn’s place in the rotation. Duke’s departure opened a spot in the bullpen for Addison Reed , who was returned from his rehab assignment.TRAINER’S ROOMIndians: OF Greg Allen was called up from Triple-A Columbus before the game, and RHP Adam Plutko was sent down. With Lonnie Chisenhall, Tyler Naquin and Bradley Zimmer all out with injuries, Allen will help fortify the unsettled CF and RF spots with Rajai Davis, Brandon Guyer and Melky Cabrera.Twins: Sano, who missed a month with hamstring trouble and after struggling upon his return was sent to the minor leagues for what turned out to be a six-week stay for conditioning and refining his swing, went 0 for 7 with five strikeouts in his first two games back over the weekend.UP NEXTIndians: RHP Trevor Bauer (9-6, 2.32 ERA) will pitch on Tuesday night. The All-Star kept up his career-best season against Pittsburgh last week by striking out 10 batters over seven scoreless innings while surrendering only two hits.Twins: RHP Kyle Gibson (5-7, 3.42), who held MLB batting leader Boston to one run on four hits over eight innings last week, will take the mound for the middle game of the series.—

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