MLB: Day One Hundred and Thirty-Five

As we enter another week of baseball, and since we are into August now, we’ll go ahead and take another look at the races in Major League Baseball. There are still really good races going on but only a couple races are inside of two games.

The first close race is a tie at the top. That’s in the American League Central where the Cleveland Indians and the Detroit Tigers are tied a top the division. The Tigers are coming off of splitting a four games series with the Oakland A’s while the Indians just got swept by the New York Yankees. So that’s pull the Indians and the Tigers into a tie.

Now these two teams will meet for a quick two game series in Cleveland on Tuesday and Wednesday. If either team can win both games then that team will take a decent two game lead in the division. Otherwise, if they split the quick series, then they still be tied as they head off to play their weekend series.

The closest race in the National League is currently in the Central. The Chicago Cubs continue to threaten the Milwaukee Brewers but the Brewers have successfully held them off for a couple weeks now. Right not the Cubs are a game and a half out of first place.

While the lead in the American League East still stands at a rather comfortable four games, the Yankees have to be thrilled that they are that close to the division leading Boston Red Sox. The Yankees are currently enjoying a four game winning streak while the Red Sox won their last game while trying to hold off the Yankees.

In the AL West the Anaheim Angels have a three game lead over the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners have been playing very good baseball but they haven’t been able to catch the also hot Angels.

The New York Mets have a three game lead in the National League East over the Philadelphia Phillies. Then just three and a half games behind the Mets and a half game back from the Phillies are the Atlanta Braves.

Finally, in the National League West the young Arizona Diamondbacks continue to look good and are three games ahead of the San Diego Padres. Not too far back are both the Colorado Rockies and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Rockies are five games back and the Dodgers are six and a half games back.

And that’s the way the tops of the divisions look as we head into another week here in the middle of August.