The New York Yankees, Texas Rangers and Detroit Tigers won on Sunday and decreased their magic numbers in the race of division dominance.
For the Yankees, the clinched a playoff spot, but that does not matter to them. Right now, they are tied with the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East, so their magic number is four. Same goes for the Orioles.
Baltimore defeated the Boston Red Sox 6-3. Meanwhile, the Yankees beat Toronto Blue Jays 9-6. The Yankees get Boston on Monday and the O's face the Rays.
In the AL Central, the Detroit Tigers' magic number is just one. Prince Fielder gave them the victory with a two-run bomb late in Sunday's game against the Minnesota Twins.
With their magic number being at one, they do not have to win down the stretch as they hold a three-game lead over the Chicago White Sox, who completely derailed at the end of the season dropping 8 of 10 games played recently.
The Rangers find themselves in an intruiging situation. They face the second-place team, Oakland Athletics in a three-game series beginning Monday. They hold a two-game lead in the AL West.
For the Rangers, a win means AL West dominance for 2012. For the A's, a sweep of the Rangers means they win the AL West title.
The Rangers' magic number is two games. The easiest thing to do is get a win on Monday, putting the division away early. As we learned from last season's World Series, the Rangers are not the team to leave winning for another day.
Washington Nationals' magic number is one. Either an Atlanta Braves' loss or a win by them gets them the NL East. The Nationals hold a three-game lead over the Braves.
Come back to sportsworldreport.com as we will bring you pitching matchups, predictions and break downs of each of the games.
