Not only were the Yankees eliminated on Wednesday, but with the Rays and Indians both prevailing, the Orioles and Royals were likewise ruled out of the wild card chase, leaving only the Rangers in position to possibly overtake the top two in the hunt.
The up-to-the-minute standings:
Rays: 89-69
Indians: 88-70
Rangers: 87-71
All three teams have a full slate remaining. The Rays finish up their series with the Yankees on Thursday, while the Indians and Rangers begin four-game series. The Indians will travel to Minnesota, and the Rangers will host the Angels. The Rays finish up with three games in Toronto.
The schedule, which has been very kind to Cleveland of late, doesn’t seem to particularly favor any of the teams this weekend. The Twins are the weakest of the opponents, but it helps that they’ll be at home. The Indians are just 37-40 on the road this year, compared to 51-30 at home. They’re 9-6 in 15 games against the Twins.
The Rangers are an impressive 11-4 against the Angels. They’re 42-35 at home.
The Rays are 10-6 against the Blue Jays and 38-39 on the road.
All things considered, one probably has to prefer the chances of the teams currently in the drivers seats. The Rangers aren’t playing well enough to make a four-game sweep seem at all likely, and if they merely go 3-1 against the Angels, they’ll be lucky to gain the ground needed to force a one-game playoff.
