Toronto 2nd in Wild Card Standings
Seattle-Texas tied for 3rd
The standings change after a night of sleep. Three teams are one game away from war. The race for the American League wild card in Major League Baseball’s American League is at a tipping point, with the Toronto Blue Jays, home of the Korean Monster Ryu Hyun-jin, and the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers battling it out in the American League West.
It’s hard to tell. Texas has been on a roll lately, winning four straight games against Toronto on the road. However, they’ve since lost four straight. Toronto has rebounded, sweeping a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox in the American League East to move into sole possession of the second American League wild card. In between, Seattle has sneaked in and is tied with Texas for third place.
The first, second, and third wild cards punch their tickets to the Fall Classic. First place is a virtual lock. The Tampa Bay Rays are currently in first place. They have a whopping 9.5-game lead over second-place Toronto. The Rays have their sights set on winning the American League East. They trail the Baltimore Orioles by 2.5 games. In any case, the first wild card spot is likely to go to either Tampa Bay or Baltimore.
There are three teams battling for second and third place. The fourth- and fifth-place New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are six and 7.5 games behind third-place Seattle and Texas, respectively. In effect, Toronto, Seattle, and Texas are fighting for two tickets. All three teams have 12 games left to play. Expect it to be a tight race to the end.
If I had to pick a favorite, I’d give Toronto a slight edge. They currently have the best record with 83 wins and 67 losses. They can still get a wild card if they maintain their current win total. The rest of their schedule is a bit better. They play six games against Tampa Bay and six games against the Yankees. Of course, facing teams from the same division isn’t always easy. However, Tampa Bay has already clinched a postseason berth, and the Yankees have had a rough go of it this season.안전놀이터
Seattle and Texas will face off against each other seven times. They’ll play a three-game series at Texas from Sept. 23-25 and a four-game series at Seattle from Sept. 29 to Oct. 2. Those seven games will likely determine who makes the Fall Classic. Toronto is very fortunate to have Seattle and Texas on the schedule at the same time, as they are tough to beat. If they rack up the wins, at least one of Seattle and Texas will likely fall to the bottom of the standings.