We made it, folks.

After five months of groundwork-laying and forced patience, we've made it to September, where we will officially retire our "it's a marathon, not a sprint" platitudes in favor of magic numbers and stress. There's still a lot left to be settled over the coming weeks. Two divisions are complete question marks (three more are technically still within striking distance, although it would take a lot to displace the Astros, Dodgers or Phillies) and all six Wild Card spots are still up for grabs. Finally, every game really does matter, and we're here for it.

• MLB standings

So as we ease into what we can only hope will be a chaotic and exciting month ahead, here's a look at some of the highlights from this week's schedule.

Royals run AL Central gauntlet
KC at CLE (Mon-Wed); at MIN (Fri-Sun)
The Royals are 3 1/2 games behind the first-place Guardians in the AL Central and, after losing their series finale against the Astros on Sunday, are tied for second with the Twins. That has them facing down a week of baseball that could make or break their entire season, because they're blowing through both of those road cities. This could be a defining moment for a team that's contending a little sooner than we thought they would, one where they grab first place and never look back. It’s also mathematically possible – although exceedingly unlikely -- that they could be as far as 9 1/2 games out of first place by this time next week.

Kansas City does have three of its best pitchers lined up for the Cleveland series -- Michael Wacha will start Monday, followed by Brady Singer and Seth Lugo -- but Minnesota has been a much bigger problem for the club this season. The Twins' offense, unlike the Guardians', actually gives the Royals' great pitching and solid lineup a run for its money. The Royals are also freshly without Vinnie Pasquantino, who broke his right thumb on Thursday, placing the weight of the offense even more squarely on Bobby Witt Jr.'s shoulders.

Battle of the bubble teams
BOS vs. NYM (Mon-Wed)
You might consider the Mets and Red Sox kindred spirits. Everyone's feeling the squeeze around here; both teams are in the heat of the Wild Card race but not currently in possession of a playoff spot, and, as a result, are sort of at the mercy of the pack. The Mets, as of the end of play Sunday, are a game and a half out of a Wild Card spot; the Red Sox are 4 1/2 games out. Neither can really count on their bullpen. But despite their underwhelming records and all of their faults, both clearly have the potential to do some damage in a short series -- they just have to get there first.

Giants' last stand?
SF vs. AZ (Tues-Thurs); at SD (Fri-Sun)
The Giants are 2024's definitional .500 team (even though, admittedly, they're two games under after their weekend series against the Marlins.) They haven't finished a single month this season more than three games over or under .500. They didn't pick a lane at the Deadline, choosing to move Jorge Soler, keep Blake Snell and add Mark Canha (arguably the least consistent possible combination, but the strangest of those decisions at the time has paid off enormously, so it's hard to argue in retrospect.) None of that makes them sound like a contender, but with the current playoff format, it's not actually disqualifying until early September.

We're here, the calendar says it's time to put up or shut up. Conveniently, so does the schedule -- San Francisco's next six games will come against the teams just ahead of them in the NL West in the Padres and D-backs. And while they're about as likely to unseat either of them as they are to win the AL Central, those two clubs -- as division rivals and the NL's current first and second Wild Card -- have the best shot to cut the playoff picture down by one team. That's if they can, because in true 2024 Giants fashion, they're a combined 7-7 against Arizona and San Diego to this point, offering very little insight on how this is going to play out.

Basically, so far, the Giants have mostly left their season up to fate, but they can't get away with that for much longer. A good week will keep them in it; a bad one will likely force a turn towards 2025.

Guardians' rare trip to Dodger Stadium
CLE at LAD (Fri-Sun)
The Dodgers and Guardians generally have nothing to do with each other, so it doesn't look very significant, but this will be just the fourth trip the Guardians have taken to Dodger Stadium in franchise history. Fun fact: the Guardians, who are 6-3 at Dodger Stadium, are the only American League team with a winning record there, including postseason play. Go figure.

The Guardians, as previously mentioned, will see the Royals earlier in the week; that series could have enormous implications in the AL Central, as just 3 1/2 games separate first-place Cleveland from Kansas City and Minnesota. The Guardians are coming off a rocky August in which they lost three games in the division, putting them in position to be potentially overtaken over the course of single head-to-head series. Bear in mind that in addition to this week's final series against the Royals, the Guardians also still have four games to play against the Twins. We won't know just how critical this weekend set will be for Cleveland until they head out west, but it's worth bearing in mind that while the Guardians are in Los Angeles, the Royals and Twins will be occupied with each other. Basically, if Cleveland has a good week, they could really assert their position as AL Central favorites; if they don't, they might find themselves back in an ugly AL Wild Card fight.

We'd be remiss not to also mention that, obviously, this will also be the weekend series that features Shohei Ohtani, who is literally making history with every home run and stolen base he records. If AL Central intrigue isn't your thing, that's pretty thrilling, too.

Judge watch continues
NYY at TEX (Mon-Wed); at CHC (Fri-Sun)
Aaron Judge is a person, not a spectacle, but at this point it's just more realistic to treat his talent like a traveling show. If you're going to see a Yankees road game, you're probably there to see the captain, and rightfully so.

Judge is on pace for at least 60 home runs and the Yankees are ever at risk of slipping out of first place again, so one could argue every game is just as significant as the last, but the week ahead will take him through a couple of special cities. First, the Yankees will meet the Rangers at Globe Life Field, the site of Judge's record-breaking 62nd home run in 2022. Then they'll head to Chicago for a weekend series against the Cubs, already an iconic matchup of two storied franchises made all the more special by the Wrigley Field backdrop. What's more, Wrigley is one of four extant MLB parks (along with Busch Stadium, Nationals Park and Truist Park) that has yet to see its first Judge homer -- which surely has to be considered a milestone at this point.