After successfully preventing a season-high fourth straight setback, the Boston Red Sox bid to avert their first series loss in over two months on Thursday afternoon when they play the finale of their four-game set against the visiting Cleveland Indians (73-53). Xander Bogaerts belted a pair of homers in Wednesday's 10-4 romp as Boston (89-39) ended its second three-game skid of the season.

Washington's Max Scherzer and Philadelphia's Aaron Nola aim to strengthen their respective Cy Young Award bids at the other's expense on Thursday afternoon as the Nationals vie for a three-game sweep of the visiting Phillies. Scherzer leads the National League in wins (16) as he attempts to claim his third straight NL Cy Young Award and fourth of his career.

The finale of a four-game series between the visiting San Francisco Giants and the New York Mets on Thursday afternoon will feature an outstanding matchup on the mound. The Giants will be looking for star left-hander Madison Bumgarner to bounce back from a rare rocky outing while the Mets get behind Cy Young Award candidate Jacob deGrom, who is coming off his third career complete game and leads the majors in ERA (1.71).

The Chicago White Sox have played better than .500 baseball since July 11 and look to continue building confidence for next year when they visit the Detroit Tigers for the opener of a four-game set Thursday afternoon. The White Sox are 18-17 in their last 35 contests and have won six of the past eight after launching three homers in a 7-3 victory over Minnesota on Wednesday.

The Colorado Rockies' current surge has put them in the thick of the playoff race in the National League, and they look to remain there as they host the San Diego Padres on Thursday afternoon for the rubber match of their three-game series. Colorado dropped the opener of the set but bounced back to post its ninth win in 11 contests, a 6-2 triumph Wednesday.

The Miami Marlins long since turned their focus toward 2019 and beyond, which is giving rookies like left fielder Austin Dean a chance to get valuable big-league experience entering Thursday’s opener of a four-game home series against the Atlanta Braves. Promoted to the majors on Aug. 15, Dean has hits in his past three games and finished 3-for-5 in Wednesday’s 9-3 home triumph over the New York Yankees to raise his average to .269 through six contests.

The Tampa Bay Rays had been struggling against sub-.500 teams since mid-July, but they can finish off a four-game home sweep against the struggling Kansas City Royals with a fifth straight victory overall Thursday night. The Rays came into the series 8-13 in their last 21 games against teams with records under .500 before limiting Kansas City (38-89) to four runs in the first three games - most of them in a 6-3 victory Wednesday.

The Chicago Cubs finally broke out of their offensive slump, and they’ll try to keep the bats going when they open a four-game series against the visiting Cincinnati Reds on Thursday. Cole Hamels makes his second start as a Cub at Wrigley Field, where he is 3-1 with a 1.69 ERA in seven career outings. 

Despite a loss to the lowly Texas Rangers on Wednesday, the Oakland Athletics will take a seven series unbeaten streak into the opener of a four-game set at the Minnesota Twins on Thursday night. Oakland's seven-game trek will be capped with a visit to the Houston Astros, who hold a one-game lead over the Athletics in the American League West.