The Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees are moving in the wrong direction following losses in MLB on Tuesday.

Philadelphia suffered a pair of defeats against the Washington Nationals in their doubleheader, while the Yankees went down 10-5 to the Minnesota Twins.

In New York, the Yankees are not playing badly, they are just not playing well enough to hold off the Oakland Athletics' charge for the number one wildcard spot in the American League.

The Yankees' loss to Minnesota on Tuesday dropped New York to 5-5 in their last 10 games, while it allowed Oakland to cut the wildcard lead to just two as the Athletics won 3-2 against the Baltimore Orioles. 

Oakland have made up two games in the past three days and four in the last eight. The Athletics are now coming for both the Yankees and the Houston Astros.

In Philadelphia, the Phillies are in danger of giving up their spot in the National League East to a Nationals team that surrendered and moved multiple key pieces.

With 3-1 and 7-6 losses to Washington, Philadelphia are now six-and-a-half games adrift of the Braves for top spot in the division and just one-and-a-half games ahead of the Nationals.

CARDINALS SOAR THANKS TO MIKOLAS

St Louis Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas allowed just one earned run in seven innings while striking out five in an 11-5 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. St Louis moved to within one-and-a-half games of the top wildcard spot in the NL and opened up the lead on the second spot to three games.

New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom set an MLB record by posting his 26th consecutive start allowing three earned runs or fewer on Tuesday. He threw seven innings, allowed just two earned runs and struck out nine. He still took the loss as the Mets fell to the Miami Marlins 5-3. DeGrom has a 1.71 ERA this season but has an 8-9 record.

CASTELLANOS STRUGGLES

Detroit Tigers outfielder Nick Castellanos went 0 for four with two strikeouts in the team's 5-4 loss to the Astros. Houston remain three games ahead of Oakland for first place in the AL West and moved into second place for the best record in MLB following the Yankees' loss to the Twins.

Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Randal Grichuk went 0 for four with three strikeouts in his side's 7-2 defeat to the Boston Red Sox. Boston clinched a playoff spot and moved to within one win of 100 victories.

RUSSELL WITH THE LASER THROW

Chicago Cubs shortstop Addison Russell may have had his issues with the bat this season, but he will never lose his ability with the glove. He flashed some leather in the ninth inning of a 3-0 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.

TUESDAY'S RESULTS

Washington Nationals 3-1 Philadelphia Phillies
Washington Nationals 7-6 Philadelphia Phillies
Cincinnati Reds 3-1 Los Angeles Dodgers
Houston Astros 5-4 Detroit Tigers
Oakland Athletics 3-2 Baltimore Orioles
Miami Marlins 5-3 New York Mets
Boston Red Sox 7-2 Toronto Blue Jays
Cleveland Indians 2-0 Tampa Bay Rays
Chicago Cubs 3-0 Milwaukee Brewers
Minnesota Twins 10-5 New York Yankees
St Louis Cardinals 11-5 Pittsburgh Pirates
Kansas City Royals 6-3 Chicago White Sox
Arizona Diamondbacks 6-3 Colorado Rockies
Los Angeles Angels 1-0 Texas Rangers
San Diego Padres 2-1 Seattle Mariners
Atlanta Braves 4-1 San Francisco Giants

DIAMONDBACKS AT ROCKIES

With Arizona's win over the Rockies on Tuesday, the Diamondbacks moved to within two-and-a-half games of first place in the NL West, while the Dodgers remain one-and-a-half games back. St Louis still hold a three-game lead on the Dodgers for the second wildcard spot, so these three teams may be fighting for the division or no playoff berth at all. Patrick Corbin (11-5, 3.01 ERA) will toe the rubber for Arizona while Jon Gray (11-7, 4.69) with be on the bump for Colorado on Wednesday.