The Los Angeles Dodgers have just become the first Major League Baseball team to clinch their division for the 2013 season. In a back-and-fourth battle, the Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks on the strength of an eighth inning solo home run by A.J. Ellis which put Los Angeles ahead by the score of 7-6… for good.
So the Dodgers win the National League West. The Atlanta Braves will take the NL East where the Washington Nationals, who made an impressive late season run, are only 2 games away from elimination.
The real dust-up is coming from the National League Central where there are still three teams in contention. The Cincinnati Reds, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the St. Louis Cardinals have been playing leap-frog in the NLC since the season began and now, after playing about 150 games, the three teams are almost neck and neck. The winner takes the NL Central title, a wild card berth belongs to the number two team… and number three goes home to rest up for next year.
With fewer than ten games remaining in regular season play, the Cardinals have won 89 games, the Pirates have won 88 and the Reds 87… now that’s close.
Over in the American League it’s a different picture. The Texas Rangers looked to be a shoe in for the American League West before taking a nose dive in the month of September and losing 8 of their last ten games. Texas will have to push hard now just to get the AL Wild Card berth.
The Boston Red Sox and the Detroit Tigers have pretty much controlled their respective divisions for some time now. The surging Oakland A’s have taken over first place in the AL West by 6.5 games.
Then we have the Tampa Bay Rays who have been responsible for some of those losses handed to the Rangers recently. The Rays are currently the favorites to win the Wild Card spot with their 83 wins as opposed to 82 for Texas.
As it stands now in the American League we have the Tampa Bay Rays (83-68) in the lead for the Wild Card spot followed by the Texas Rangers (82-69) and the Cleveland Indians (82-70). In the National League the race for the Wild Card berth is between the Pittsburgh Pirates (87-65), the Cincinnati Reds (87-66) and the Washington Nationals (81-71).
Baseball fans are looking forward to some wild games ahead!
