MLB: Races Starting to Work Out

Posted on | September 11, 2008 | No Comments

Over the last few days I’ve been writing a lot about the baseball races working themselves out. Slowly, they’re doing just that. Over the weekend the Los Angeles Dodgers took over first by beating-up on the still free-falling Arizona Diamndbacks. The Dodgers now hold a 3.5 game lead over the D-Backs. With only 16 games left to play, that’s a huge advantage. Pencil in the Dodgers to win the NL West.

Meanwhile, in the AL East, the Tampa Bay Rays have done it again. Just when it looked like they might surrender the lead in the division, they came up with two huge wins over the Boston Red Sox. Those two wins pushed their lead from .5 game all the way up to 2.5 games. That’s with 18 games left to play. So this division isn’t over but the Rays are certainly in control… for now.

The AL Central actually got closer recently. the Minnesota Twins have pulled back with a game of the Chicago White Sox. This one is too close to call. But I still think the White Sox will give way to the Twins.

The Cubs have a 4.5 game lead in the NL Central and 17 games left to play. This despite them playing very poorly lately. You can pretty much pencil in the Cubs to win this division. But have the eraser ready.

The NL East looks like the New York Mets will win it. However, the Phillies are still just 3.5 games back. The Phillies have actually lost ground in the last couple of days. I would give this division to the D-Backs right now (and I do think they’ll win it) but because of last year’s debacle, let’s wait at least a few more games.

Finally, the AL West is offiically over. The bubbly was flowing for the Anaheim Angels last night. They’ve clinched their division. And now they must battle boredom for the next few weeks while they wait for the playoffs to start.

Related posts:

1. MLB: National League Starting to Sort Itself Out
2. MLB: Looking at the National League Races
3. MLB: Races in Baseball
4. MLB: Close Races Getting Closer
5. MLB: Looking at the Races in the American League

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