33 games to play OAK - 34 Games behind - Eliminated from ALW LAA - 26 Games behind TEX - 23 Games behind SEA - 11 1/2 Games behind
For those teams like Oakland with nothing left to play for what a wasted opportunity the 28 man limit in September is. If they had a chance to look at the future for a few weeks they might be able add some enthusiasm to the team and sell some tickets to the fans.
Magic number to eliminate Angels: 8 Magic number to eliminate Rangers: 11 Magic number to eliminate Mariners: 22 Magic number vs Yankees for best record: 39 FYI: Astros hold tie breaker over all of them except Angels. 6 games left vs Angels and need 1 win to secure that tie breaker ( for what it's worth)* * that tie breaker will only matter if the Angels win exactly 26 more games than the Astros do in the final 33.
9/1 31 games to go OAK - Eliminated LAA - 27.0 Games behind. By the end of the LAA series, there will be 28 games to go. Winning 2 of 3 will eliminate them. ARL - 25.0 Games behind, We could eliminate them in the following series. SEA - 11.5 Games behind.
Magic number to eliminate Angels: 5 Magic number to eliminate Rangers: 7 Magic number to eliminate Mariners: 20 Magic number vs Yankees for best record: 36 FYI: Astros hold tie breaker over all of them except Angels. 6 games left vs Angels and need 1 win to secure that tie breaker.
If the Astros limp into a 13-18 finish, the Mariners would need to be 26-6 to win the AL West. 16-15 for the Astros to win 100 games. 23-8 to tie team record 107 wins. 6 vs LAA (3H, 3A) 3 vs Tex 3 @ Det 4 vs Oak 6 vs TB (3H, 3A) 4 @ Bal. 2 vs Ari 3 vs Phi The schedule is not as easy as it would have looked last year.
Who are the dumbasses in the league office that came up with the playoff formatting? In the AL the #1 seed is just about guaranteed now to play a team with a better record in the ALDS than the 2nd seed. The number #1 seed plays the winner of the 4/5 matchup which are the two best wild card teams. The #2 seed plays the winner of the 3/6 seeds which is the 3rd division winner and worst wild card team. The 3rd division winner might end up being the worst team in the playoffs. Here is a WACKY idea, how about the team with the worst record after the Wild Card round, plays the #1 seed. I know that's a crazy approach.
Meanwhile the Yankees are only 6 up on Tampa and they play them 6 times in the next 11 games. 15 1/2 game lead at one point. Largest lead ever surrendered was the '51 Dodgers, 13 games.
Go for the record Stankees! I'll have to see if they played the Giants in 51 when the Giants became the first team to put an outfield camera in centerfield to steal signs and relay them with the scoreboard to the batter. I bet you thought sophisticated sign stealing was something new, didn't you? Talk about effective. After a 3 game sweep by the Dodgers early, the Giants went 8-2 at home with the camera in the outfield and 3-9 when they played the Dodgers in Brooklyn. They didn't play the Yamkees until the World Series where they lost 4-2.
Astros eliminated Angels from ALW with win today. Magic number for division: 18 ( vs Seattle) Best record in AL 22 ( vs Yankmees) 28 games left If Astros finish 14-14 for 100 wins. Mariners need to go 26-3 to win the division. Yankees need to go 21-7 to get best record.
Wow. I didn't realize there is no re-seeding after the WC round/byes. That is very stupid. Especially for a league that has had so much trouble or its No 1 teams making it to the WS already.
I'm much more disappointed they have the division winners in a position to be eliminated in 3 games after a 162 game season. Shorten the season and expand all playoffs to 7 games.
