American League Playoff Races Update

It is getting down to the wire in the race for the four playoff spots for the American League. The division races are not very close, with the closest one being 6 games, but the wilcard race is where the action will be this season with several teams vying for the one last spot in the playoffs. The races look like this:

AL East

Red Sox 84-56

Yankees 6 GB

Blue Jays 12.5 GB

Orioles 23 GB

Devil Rays 26 GB

The Red Sox have a pretty commanding lead over the New York Yankees entering the stretch run of the season. The 6 game cushion that they enjoy is one of the largest of any division leader in baseball. With 22 games left for both teams this season the Yankees look like they are out of contention. The only chance the Yankees have is next week when the teams play a three game series at Fenway Park. If the Yankees can sweep the series and get 3 games closer in such a short time they have a prayer. If the Red Sox win just one of the three you can count this race as over.

The Red Sox and Yankees have pretty similar schedules left. The Red Sox schedule is a little tougher however since they will welcome the A's and the Twins to Fenway while the Yankees have the Mariners and Royals as out of division games.

Tampa Bay is the first team in the American League to be mathematically eliminated.

AL Central

Indians 81-58

Tigers 7 GB

Twins 12.5

Royals 19 GB

White Sox 22 GB

The Indians have been hot recently while the Tigers have severely cooled off. This has led to the division lead for the Indians swelling to a 6 game lead. The Tigers, like the Yankees, have a chance if they sweep their division rivals away. If the Indians win one of the games at home then it is probably over.

Both of these teams have pretty evenly matched schedules. They both still have the White Sox, Royals and Mariners left on their schedule as well as one series with each other.

AL West

Angels 82-57

Mariners 7.5 GB

Athletics 14 GB

Rangers 17 GB

The Angels have a commanding 6.5 game lead over the Mariners. The Mariners were playing awful baseball last week and it has caused them to slide in the AL West and in the wildcard standings. The Mariners, like the Yankees and Tigers, have a three game away series against the division leaders. Also, like those teams they need to sweep the series to have a chance in the division.

The Angels and Mariners both have Oakland and Texas remaining on their schedule. The Mariners have a little tougher stretch since they play the Yankees and the Tigers this week.

AL Wildcard

Yankees 78-72

Mariners 3 GB

Tigers 3.5 GB

Blue Jays 6.5 GB

Twins 9 GB

The real race for the playoffs is in the AL Wildcard race with 5 teams within 7 games and three within 3 games. The real race looks like it is between the Yankees, Tigers and Mariners.

The Mariners could either really help themselves or hurt themselves this week when they play the Yankees and then the Tigers back-to-back. The Yankees and Tigers do not play each other.

The schedule probably favors the Tigers as they have games against the White Sox and Royals remaining in division while the Mariners and Yankees have tougher in-division opponents.