So much for Johan Santana having a short outing Saturday, after throwing a career-high 125 pitches his last time out and coming back against the Marlins on three days’ rest. The Mets ace tossed a three-hit shutout and struck out nine in New York’s 2-0 victory. Talk about taking the pressure off the bullpen and leading the way in a do-or-die game.

The Phillies just eked out a 4-3 win over Washington to claim the National League East crown. The Mets have their finale tomorrow, but otherwise, the center of the baseball universe is in the Midwest. Chicago, Milwaukee and the Twin Cities are hosting most of the key games remaining while the Yankees and Red Sox play a meaningless series at Fenway Park.

The Chicago Cubs are close to putting away the second game of their series in Milwaukee. So, the Brewers are on the verge of falling back into a tie with the Mets for the NL’s final playoff spot.

The Cubs are affecting the wild-card chase as much as the Mets and Brewers. The Mets and Brewers have been Chicago’s final 2008 opponents. New York could only split a four-game set with the Cubs at Shea to start the week, and it took a major comeback on Thursday to get the split.

On Friday, the Brewers beat the Cubs behind strong pitching performances from Jeff Suppan and Seth McClung, and they moved a game up on the Mets. In today’s game, Cubs lefty Ted Lilly carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning for the second time in two weeks. The Cubs have just completed a 7-3 victory, so the Brewers and Mets are tied for the only remaining playoff spot -- with one game to play.

The Metrodome in Minneapolis was host this week to one of the most dramatic series of the 2008 season. With the White Sox up 2.5 games in the American League Central, the Twins swept three games against their long-time rival, and took over first place by a half-game.

If the Metrodome was heaven for the Twins against the White Sox, as it usually is, it’s been a Bermuda Triangle for them facing the Royals in their season-ending series. The Twins were flat in Friday’s opener, an 8-1 defeat. Both the Twins and White Sox had to be spent a bit emotionally by the series, and both lost on Friday. Minnesota also dropped Saturday’s matinee, 4-2, and the Sox are positioned to take a half-game lead in the Central if they can beat Cleveland at home Saturday night.

The Twins’ season-ending opponent happens to be the big league team with the best record in September. The Royals are 18-7 this month -- 9-3 on the road -- and after Saturday’s victory, they have won 13 of their last 15 games. Few visitors play .500 ball at the Metrodome, but Kansas City is 8-9 there over the last two seasons. Allowing the Royals to reach the .500 mark Sunday probably would bury the Twins.

So for tonight, the center of the baseball universe is the South Side of Chicago, where the White Sox play Cleveland and now lead the Central by percentage points. The White Sox endured their fourth straight loss in Friday’s 11-8 slugfest with the Indians. They couldn’t overcome two home runs from Ryan Garko, including his slam in Cleveland’s six-run fifth inning.

The White Sox won't have to face Cleveland ace Cliff Lee on Sunday, as the AL’s leading Cy Young candidate is out with a stiff neck. Instead, they'll see Bryan Bullington, who is looking for his first major league win and has an 8.15 ERA in four big league starts. That’s catching a break, but it's looking more likely that Chicago needs to win tomorrow.

Less than five minutes ago, the White Sox-Indians game was tied at 1 in the fourth inning. In a flash, Cleveland has gone up 6-1 on clutch doubles by Asdrubal Cabrera and Jamey Carroll. The bases were full for Cabrera’s, and Carroll’s came after White Sox starter Javier Vazquez intentionally walked Grady Sizemore to set up a double-play situation.

Rookie Clayton Richard has replaced Vazquez, and Shin-Soo Choo has greeted him with an RBI single. Victor Martinez has made his second out in the top of the fifth, and now the rally is over. Cleveland’s six-run fifth inning -- its second in two games against Chicago -- gives the Indians a 7-1 lead. If Cleveland holds on, the Indians will be 9-3 in their last 12 games.

There’s plenty of time for the White Sox to rebound, but no matter what happens in the final innings, tomorrow’s games in Flushing and the Great Lakes Triangle will have more than playoff implications.

The matchups are:

FLA (Scott Olsen) vs. NYM (Oliver Perez)
CLE (Bryan Bullington) vs. CWS (Mark Buehrle)
ChC (Angel Guzman) vs. MIL (CC Sabathia)
KC (Brandon Duckworth) vs. MIN (Scott Baker)

Seasons should always end like this.