The New York Mets face the Washington Nationals in a regular season MLB game on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025 (9/19/25) at Citi Field in Queens, N.Y.

Here are the weekend series with the highest playoff stakes, including the Mariners and Astros battling for the AL West lead in H-Town.

Starting pitching has been the main reason why the Cincinnati Reds find themselves in playoff contention at this point in the season. With a record of 77-76, the Reds are two games back of a Wild Card spot, tied with the Diamondbacks and trailing the New York Mets. They lead MLB in a category they are not familiar with.

The New York Yankees face the Baltimore Orioles in a regular season MLB game on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025 (9/18/25) at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Major League Baseball has called off its plans to hold two games in London next year after scheduling issues with the stadium arose, along with a lack of available broadcast slots with a TV partner because of another global sporting event.

Find best bets and props for the biggest games in sports on Friday from the SportsLine Inside the Lines model and top CBS Sports experts

MLB revealed that digital tickets to games have been stolen from fans on the Ballpark app, which is used by all 30 teams, and resold on other platforms.

Former pitcher Adam Wainwright discussed the impact of MLB’s pitch timer, noting that while games are shorter, pitchers have less time to think through their next pitch.