Yoenis Cespedes and the Mets walked off on Monday

There were playoff hopefuls facing off in series that began on Monday, mainly with two of the top teams in AL East facing off in Baltimore. Head-to-head matchups will decide playoff spots and can help decide fantasy matchups as well with top players increasing their efforts in these games. Two pivotal matchups in the Eastern divisions will open this daily update for August 30, 2016.

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Recap

Blue Jays beat Orioles in AL East matchup
Marco Estrada allowed one run on four hits in seven innings and Josh Donaldson and Jose Bautista each had home runs as the Blue Jays beat the Orioles 5-1. Estrada (8-6) now has a 3.37 ERA this season while Troy Tulowitzki finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and Edwin Encarnacion finished 0-for-2 with two walks and a run scored for Toronto. Wade Miley (8-11) allowed three runs on five hits, striking out nine batters, and J.J. Hardy finished 2-for-3 with a solo home run for Baltimore.

Mets earn walk-off against Marlins
After Rafael Montero and Jose Fernandez put up zeros while starting and the Mets and Marlins exchanged runs in the eighth inning, Yoenis Cespedes hit a walk-off home run and the Mets earned a 2-1 win over Miami. Montero allowed two hits in five innings, but walked six while striking out three, while Cespedes finished 3-for-5 and Jose Reyes was 1-for-5 with a double and run scored for the Mets. Fernandez allowed three hits in six innings, but walked four while striking out six, while Martin Prado, Xavier Scruggs, and Ichiro Suzuki each had doubles, with Scruggs driving in a run and Suzuki finishing with a run scored and stolen base for Miami.

Cubs walk off against Pirates
While Jake Arrieta was not at the top of his game, Willson Contreras hit a home run in the 8th inning, Jorge Soler hit a home run in the 9th, and, after the Pirates scored in the top of the 13th inning, Miguel Montero earned the Cubs a walk-off 8-7 win over the Pirates with a single. Arrieta allowed six runs on five hits in 6 1/3 innings, walking three batters and striking out three, while Javier Baez was 4-for-6, Dexter Fowler was 3-for-7 with two runs scored, and Soler, Contreras, and Anthony Rizzo each had two RBI for the Cubs. Josh Bell and Gregory Polanco each had home runs, with Polanco driving in three runs, while Josh Harrison was 3-for-6 with a double and three RBI and Starling Marte was 2-for-6 with two stolen bases for Pittsburgh.

Nationals blank Phillies
Tanner Roark allowed four hits and one walk in seven scoreless innings, striking out five batters, and the Nationals shut out the Phillies 4-0. Roark (14-7) now has a 2.87 ERA while Jayson Werth hit a home run and both Clint Robinson and Daniel Murphy finished 2-for-4, with Robinson scoring and driving in a run for Washington. Jake Thompson (1-4) allowed two runs on seven hits in seven innings while Odubel Herrera finished 2-for-4 for Philadelphia.

Brewers cancel great start before Cardinals come back to win
Carlos Martinez allowed one run in six innings, striking out 13 batters and walking two, but the bullpen gave up his 3-1 before St. Louis came back to earn a 6-5 win over the Brewers. Martinez allowed four hits to see his ERA drop to 3.07 while Jedd Gyorko, Randall Grichuk, and Kolten Wong each had a home run with Grichuk and Wong driving in two each for St. Louis. Zach Davies allowed three runs on seven hitsin in 6 1/3 innings, striking out nine batters without a walk, while Orlando Arcia hit a home run and Jonathan Villar had two doubles for Milwaukee.

What to Watch For

A matchup of two of the top pitchers in the AL Central will be the featured matchup on Tuesday, as Chris Sale and the White Sox will face Justin Verlander and the Tigers. Sale has pitched 17 innings over his last two starts and struck out 14 batters in a complete-game last Friday, moving his strikeout total to 179 in 177 2/3 innings this season. Verlander has struck out at least five batters while walking only one batter in three consecutive starts and has a 2.41 ERA and 0.83 WHIP in August. Corey Kluber, Felix Hernandez, and Aaron Sanchez will also pitch today.

Chris Zolli is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Chris, check out his archive and follow him @thezman2010.