American League Pennant Race - September 19th

By Ian Palmer

There’s just one division title left to be decided in the American League Pennant race as the Baltimore Orioles have clinched the East and the LA Angels have wrapped up the West. This leaves the Central Division still up for grabs with the Detroit Tigers hanging onto a slim half-game lead over the Kansas City Royals. However, the Royals were still in the postseason picture as they had a half-game lead for the first wild-card spot with the Oakland As holding down the second wild-card position, but just a game ahead of the Seattle Mariners.

Let’s look closer at how things currently stand:

American League West

The Angels went 7-3 over their past 10 games to build up an 11.5 game lead over Oakland and pull 12.5 ahead of the Mariners. This was good enough to clinch the division while the Athletics are hanging onto the second wild-card spot just a game ahead of the Mariners and four up on the Cleveland Indians. The A’s are in a tailspin though and have gone just 3-7 in their last 10 outings and could now miss out on the postseason. Seattle may also blow it by going 4-6 in their past 10 contests. The Houston Astros and Texas Rangers are fourth and fifth in the West and out of the race. MLB.com gave Oakland an 88.2 per cent chance of making the playoffs as of Sept. 19 with Seattle given a 33.7 per cent shot.

American League Central

The Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals are going down to the wire for the Central Division title with the Tigers a half-game in front, but with Kansas City having a game in hand. The Tigers vaulted over the Royals by going 7-3 in their past 10 games while Kansas went 4-6. The Cleveland Indians are still in the race at five games behind Detroit, but were 5-5 in their last 10 contests. Kansas had a half-game leg up on the first wild-card spot while the Indians were four behind the second wild-card position. The fourth-place Chicago White Sox and last-place Minnesota twins are both out of the playoff race. The Royals aren’t guaranteed a playoff spot by any stretch of the imagination as they’ve been given a 73.7 per cent chance with Detroit at 95.7 and Cleveland at just 8.5 per cent.

American League East

The Baltimore Orioles wrapped up the East Division title by going 9-1 over their past 10 games. This gave them a 14 lead over the New York Yankees and a 15-game bulge on the Toronto Blue Jays. The Yankees are in the wild-card hunt at five games back while the Blue Jays are mathematically alive at six behind. The Blue Jays are self destructing though with five straight losses and six defeats in their last seven outings. The Yankees have gone 5-5 in their past 10 with the Jays going 4-6. Third-place Tampa Bay went 5-5 in their last 10 encounters, but are 9.5 games behind the second wild-card spot. The Yankees were given just a 0.3 per cent chance to reach the playoffs with the Blue Jays at 0.1 per cent.

American League Wild Card Standings