By DAVID MEISTER
Sports Editor
As the leaves start to change colors and the air starts to get crisper, it can only mean one thing, the MLB playoffs are on the horizon. The month of October is where stars make names for themselves and with just a few weeks left on the season, it’s a good time to take stock and see where everyone is heading into the home stretch of the regular season.
Kicking things off in the American League, starting in the east, the Boston Red Sox are sitting on top of the division and are coming close to 100 wins on the season at 97-46. They have been trying to pull away from the New York Yankees who’re 7.5 games back and at 89-53. Boston may have finally made it to the point where they have the division won with three weeks left in the season but it’s still too early to call. The Red Sox and Yankees still have six head to head meetings left this season and depending on who wins those contests, it could very much sway who will win the division. Either way, New York does have a sizeable lead in the AL Wild Card race but I’ll get back to that later.
Next, in perhaps the most lopsided division in the MLB right now, the AL Central. The Cleveland Indians are in first place at 81-61 and hold an impressive 16.5 game lead over the second place Minnesota Twins who are sitting it 64-77. Barring anything unusual, the Tribe will be punching their tickets to the postseason as Central division champions.
Rounding out the American League is the West which was been interesting lately. The defending World Series champion Houston Astros do hold the lead right now at 89-53 but the Oakland Athletics who have a record of 86-57 right now, have been streaky of late, winners of their last three heading into Sunday’s series finale with the Texas Rangers, and have pulled within 3.5 games of Houston. The Astros are actually undefeated so far in the month of September, winning their first seven games this month heading into Sunday’s contest with the Boston Red Sox.
The AL Wild Card right now is a two team race between New York and Oakland. The Yankees hold a 3.5 game lead over Oakland for home field advantage in that Wild Card game and the closest anyone is to them is the Seattle Mariners who are at 78-64 and 7.5 games back of Oakland at this time.
Switching over to the National League and the NL East. The Atlanta Braves are in first place right now at 78-64 and hold a 3.5 game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies who are sitting at 74-67. A little bit farther behind them and within striking distance if they get on a hot streak is the Washington Nationals who are 7.5 games back of Atlanta right now. The Braves and Phillies have seven games left against each other this season so, like in the AL East, those matchups are pivotal in determining the division champion.
Next up is the NL Central and the 2016 World Series champion Chicago Cubs (83-59) are ahead by a slim 2.5 game margin over the Milwaukee Brewers who are at 81-62. This division also has a team in third who are right in the thick of it and that’s the Saint Louis Cardinals who are only five games back at 78-64. The Cubs have three games left this season against both Milwaukee and St. Louis so it’ll be interesting to see how those games will affect the final outcome.
Finally out in the NL West. This is shaping up to be one of the closest finishes as of now with three teams all within three games of each other. The Colorado Rockies currently lead at 78-63 but a game and a half behind them sits the Los Angeles Dodgers (77-65) who made it to the World Series last season but lost to the Astros in seven games. And sitting two and a half behind Colorado is the Arizona Diamondbacks at 76-66. The Rockies and D-Backs will play each other seven more times this season and Colorado will face LA three more times as well.
So with all of these tightly contested division races, where does this leave the NL Wild Card? Well, as of right now, the Brewers hold the number one spot and the Cardinals are 2.5 behind them. There’s five teams within striking distance of Milwaukee and Saint Louis and they are the Dodgers (one game back of St. Louis), Diamondbacks (two games back), Phillies (three and a half games back), Pirates (seven games back), and the Nationals (seven and a half games back). So there’s a lot to sort out who will play in that one and done Wild Card game in the National League.
Getting excited yet? Three weeks left to go and plenty of drama has yet to unfold as teams are hunting a spot in October’s playoff festivities. Millions of fans across the country will be glued to their televisions waiting to see who’s in, who’s out, and come November, who will be raising the World Series Trophy.
