American League Playoff Race September 12th

By Ian Palmer

In Major League Baseball news, the American League playoff race sees the Baltimore Orioles on top of the East Division on September 12th with the Los Angeles Angels leading the West and the Kansas City Royals sitting in first place in the Central. The Oakland Athletics hold down the first wild-card spot with the Detroit Tigers hanging onto the second one.

Let’s look closer at how things currently stand:

American League West

The Angels were ahead of the Oakland Athletics by just 4.5 games last week, but have now extended that lead to 10 games after going 8-2 in their past 10 contests while Oakland was 3-7. The Angels were just one game ahead of the A’s two weeks ago. The A’s are still in a decent position for the first wild-card spot though with a one-game lead. This has shrunk from a five-game lead two weeks ago. The third-place Seattle Mariners are 11.5 games behind the Angels in the division, but are just half a game out of the second wild-card spot behind Detroit. The Houston Astros and Texas Rangers are fourth and fifth in the West and out of the race. The Angels are almost a lock to make the playoffs with MLB.com giving them a 100 per cent chance as of Sept. 12. Oakland is almost as good as in the playoffs as well with a 92.6 per cent shot and Seattle at 35.4 per cent.

American League Central

Kansas City held a slim half-game lead over the Detroit Tigers for the division lead with the third-place Cleveland Indians sitting four games off the pace and 3.5 behind in the wild-card hunt. Detroit is still in control of the second wild-card spot with a few teams breathing down their necks. The fourth-place Chicago White Sox and last-place Minnesota Twins are both out of the playoff race. As for the past 10 games, Kansas, Detroit and Cleveland have all gone 6-4. The Royals aren’t guaranteed a playoff spot by any stretch of the imagination as they’ve been given a 68.7 per cent chance with Detroit at 80.2 and Cleveland at just 15.8 per cent.

American League East

The Baltimore Orioles are the kings of the East Division with a 10.5 game lead over the Toronto Blue Jays and an 11.5-game cushion over the third-place New York Yankees. The Orioles and Blue Jays have both gone 8-2 in their past 10 outings with the Yankees at 5-5. The Blue Jays are sitting 3.5 games behind the second wild-card spot while the Yankees are 4.5 off the trail. The Orioles should reach the postseason and were given a 100 per cent chance while the Yankees were at 2.6 and the Blue Jays hopes pegged at 4.6 per cent.

American League Wild Card Standings