BY MELISSA ZIELINSKI
A couple weeks ago I predicted that the Red Sox would take the AL East division and the whole American League, but a lot has changed since then…
Tampa Bay who was a handful of games out when I wrote my last blog has come back to be just three behind the Sox and the Yanks are sitting pretty in first place (four and a half games ahead). Also New York seemingly doesn’t have much to worry about this week matching up against the nothing-to-lose Jays, while the Sox have an all important duel between a team they must beat in Tampa.
According to ESPN, Boston’s “panic meter” is only 3-4, but this may change if their pitching doesn’t improve and with the injured Youkilis on the bench.
There are some other battles that are worth taking a look at too…
Texas Rangers vs. LA Angels vs. Boston Red Sox vs. Tampa Bay Rays
Even though I said I was moving on I had to throw the Sox and Rays into the mix on this next discussion because the Angels, who are three and a half games behind the Rangers for first are also only one game behind the Rays and four games behind the Sox for the Wild Card spot.
LA has a good chance to make up some ground in this next series as they throw out the first pitch tonight in a weekend series against the Orioles (and since I’m working for the Washington Capitals I should mention Alex Ovechkin is throwing out the first pitch tonight). The Angels are 5-1 this season against the O’s and are on a two-game winning streak, while also winning seven of their last ten.
Still, the Rangers will be facing a three-game set against the Mariners and have went 6-1 against Seattle this season. Their starter CJ Wilson has also won six of his last seven on the mound.
The Angels should be able to sweep the series and help give them self a chance at the wildcard (given that Texas stays hot and sweeps their series against Seattle). Offensively the team has connected and it should make for an exciting AL West race in the final days of the regular season.
Over in the NL, it’s pretty clear that the Phillies will walk away with the best record in the league, leaving Atlanta, St. Louis and San Fran to duke it out for the wild card spot. The best contender out of these three looks to be Atlanta who’s heading into a weekend series against the New York Mets. After this weekend they will have some time to make up ground as they face the Marlins once more (where they took two of three during the week) and Washington before seeing Philadelphia again for the last three games of the regular season.
Atlanta should be able to inch into the postseason, but I have one concern. The Nats want to head into their offseason with some momentum. After getting Strasburg back on the mound, completing a four-game sweep of the Mets (which hasn’t been done since relocating from Montreal) and being on a five-game win streak this young team has something to prove and could give the Braves a hard time.
Both the Cardinals and Giants are at least seven games behind the first-place contender in their division, which will make them extra hungry for a “W.”
Still, with Matt Holliday possibly missing some time with finger inflammation and the inconsistency seen in the Giants, neither will have enough to muster up against Atlanta. In my opinion, the Braves have the hardest schedule nearing the end of September, but should be the WC victor.
It may have seemed like things weren’t going to be interesting, with the Sox on top as usual and the Yankees right behind them, but the dark horse has stopped that from being the case. Of course now the certain isn’t so certain and as always when it comes down to it no baseball, but September baseball matters now.
