A handful of playoff races across the American and National Leagues shifted over the last week.

The Kansas City Royals were one of the biggest winners of the last week. They used a sweep over the Minnesota Twins to gain some comfort inside the AL wild-card race.

The NL wild-card race is still loaded, but there is a new team in the final spot. The New York Mets are above Atlanta on a tiebreaker heading into Monday.

The three NL divisional races appear to be settled, but as of early Sunday night, all three of the AL divisional leaders had leads of five games or fewer.

Projected Playoff Bracket

American League

1. New York Yankees (first-round bye)

2. Cleveland (first-round bye)

No. 6 Minnesota vs. No. 3 Houston

No. 5 Kansas City vs. No. 4 Baltimore

National League

1. Los Angeles Dodgers (first-round bye)

2. Philadelphia (first-round bye)

No. 6 New York Mets vs. No. 3 Milwaukee

No. 5 Arizona vs. No. 4 San Diego

Updated Standings

American League

AL East

1. New York Yankees (82-61)

2. Baltimore (82-62)

3. Boston (72-71)

4. Tampa Bay (71-72)

5. Toronto (68-76)

AL Central

1. Cleveland (81-62)

2. Kansas City (79-65)

3. Minnesota (76-67)

4. Detroit (73-71)

5. Chicago White Sox (33-111)

AL West

1. Houston (77-66)

2. Seattle (73-71)

3. Texas (70-74)

4. Oakland (62-81)

5. Los Angeles Angels (59-84)

AL Wild-Card Race

1. Baltimore (82-62)

2. Kansas City (79-65)

3. Minnesota (76-67)

4. Detroit 3.5 games back

5. Seattle 3.5 GB

6. Boston 4 GB

7. Tampa Bay 5 GB

Kansas City surged in front of Minnesota with its three-game sweep at Kauffman Stadium this weekend.

The Royals now have a 2.5-game buffer over the Twins in the wild-card hunt. They also won the series finale with the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday.

The four-game winning run reversed some of the ground lost during a seven-game losing streak that ended with Wednesday's win.

Kansas City needs to keep that momentum rolling into a midweek series with the New York Yankees, who are in a fight of their own atop the AL East with the Baltimore Orioles.

Baltimore has two wild-card tests of its own this week against the Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers, who are both trying to make late surges into the third wild-card spot currently occupied by the Twins.

However, Minnesota gets a reprieve in its schedule with the Los Angeles Angels and Cincinnati Reds on the slate this week. A successful week could be all the Twins need to stave off the Tigers and Red Sox.

Cleveland has the easiest week of the top AL teams with three road games against the Chicago White Sox and a home set with the Tampa Bay Rays. The Guardians could use the easy week to pull away from Kansas City and Minnesota.

The Houston Astros are comfortably 4.5 games in front of the Seattle Mariners in the AL West despite losing to the DBacks on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Houston Astros can move 5.5 games ahead of the Seattle Mariners in the AL West with a Sunday night win over Arizona.

National League

NL East

1. Philadelphia (85-58)

2. New York Mets (78-65)

3. Atlanta (78-65)

4. Washington (64-79)

5. Miami (54-89)

NL Central

1. Milwaukee (82-61)

2. Chicago Cubs (73-70)

3. St. Louis (72-71)

4. Cincinnati (69-75)

5. Pittsburgh (67-76)

NL West

1. Los Angeles Dodgers (86-57)

2. San Diego (81-63)

3. Arizona (80-64)

4. San Francisco (70-73)

5. Colorado (54-90)

NL Wild-Card Race

1. San Diego (81-64)

2. Arizona (80-64)

3. New York Mets (78-65)

4. Atlanta 0 GB

5. Chicago Cubs 5 GB

6. St. Louis 6 GB

The final NL wild-card spot will most likely come down to the Mets and Braves.

The NL East rivals left the weekend tied at 78-65 with an important three-game set from September 24-26 looming large.

New York hits the road this week to face the Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies.

The weekend series in Philadelphia could be challenging for the Mets since the Phillies are still fighting for the No. 1 seed in the NL.

Atlanta faces a weekend gauntlet of its own with four games at home against the Los Angeles Dodgers that could play a major role in deciding home-field advantage and the final wild-card spot.

Arizona went back to 1.5 games in front of the Mets with its Sunday night win over the Astros.

The DBacks have seven games with the Milwaukee Brewers in the next two weeks that will decide where they land in the wild-card fight. That could be an opportunity for the Mets and Braves to both move into playoff positions.