The MLB Standings in the AL and NL are getting very close in the wild card and the division races and now teams like the Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Nationals, LA Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals are all in contention and some have already clinched with just a couple weeks left in the season.
The LA Angels, Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals have all clinched division titles and now magic numbers are the big stat and teams like the Cardinals, Dodgers and Tigers are all keeping their eyes on the teams behind them. The wild card races are getting tight as well and in the AL the Oakland Athletics are in a terrible free fall and they could end up out of the playoffs altogether after looking like a major lock earlier in the season.
The NL East has the Nationals in already, while the Cardinals have some distance in the NL Central with a 2.5 game lead over the Pirates. The Brewers are way out of it after their fall and in the West it's the dodgers with a 2.5 game lead over the Giants. The American League has the Orioles in from the AL East and the Angels from the AL West and now the Royals and Tigers are opening a series on Friday that could end up deciding the division title.
The American League wild card is close and has the Kansas City Royals now in the first spot over the Oakland Athletics. The A's are in a free-fall and the Mariners now are just one game back, while the Indians are four games back of the spot. The Athletics have been terrible this month and basically the past two months and now their lead is just one game in the wild card standings. The Mariners had Felix Hernandez on the mound and while he didn't get the win, he was fantastic and they pulled it out to stay back one game from the A's and 1.5 from the Royals.
The NL wild card has the Giants comfortably in the first spot and they are there with the Pirates ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers are 3.5 games out and they are the only ones really left in the mix and barring some collapse, the Bucs and the Giants will be in.