Wild Card—AL at a Simmer and NL is Hot!
The AL Wild Card race has narrowed down to three teams, although there are around 10 clubs that still have a statistical chance, while the NL Wild Card continues to be a horserace between seven teams.
The Twins lead the AL Wild Card by 1.5 games over the White Sox. However, the Tigers’ lead in the AL Central has slipped to 2 games over Minnesota and 3.5 over the White Sox. Barring any type of resurgence from the Angels (6.5) or Red Sox (7.5), two of these three Central division teams—Tigers, Twins, White Sox– will be in the playoffs. One will be the division winner and the other the Wild Card.
The Angels, who have been on a recent 8-2 tear, have a better chance of overtaking the division leading A’s than winning the best-in-second-place-race.
The NL continues to be unpredictable. San Diego leads the Wild Card, with seven teams within 5 games of them. San Francisco, Florida and Philadelphia are all within 2.5 games of the Padres. Cincinnati (3.5), Houston (4) and Atlanta (5) are all within striking distance. Of the clubs in the mix, the Padres, Giants and Marlins have been the hottest.
To complicate the NL picture, in the West Los Angeles has a mere 1.5 game lead over San Diego. That means that the Dodgers are potentially in the Wild Card. Also, the Dodgers are only 4 games ahead of the Giants.
As it was last season, the Wild Card should be a wild ride to the end.
Technorati Tags: AL Wild Card, NL Wild Card
