MLB Wild Card Races

The HOTTEST Team in MLB: Cleveland Indians

Hitting their nadir, from Aug. 10th-14th, the Cleveland Indians were almost left for dead after getting swept by the NY Yankees and dropping a game to the Detroit Tigers. Losing four in a row, and five of six, they had fallen in to second place in the AL Central division, and were trailing the Yanks in the Wild Card race. Most believed this would be the last time we heard from Cleveland in 2007. However, that would not be the case...

Since then, the Cleveland Indians are 25-8 in their last 32 games.

On 8-14, Joe Borowski got the loss giving up 4 runs to the Tigers. Since then, he's 2-0 with 10 saves. He's blown two saves but has allowed only four earned runs!

Since 8-14, Travis Hafner has 25 RBI.

People talk about Boston, NY & LA but beware of Cleveland. They have two LEGIT starting pitchers in CC Sabathia and Fausto Carmona. With Sizemore-Hafner-Martinez they have enough offense. Perez-Betancourt are lights out lefty-righty RP option and Borowski is getting the job done. Are they peaking too soon or heating up at just the right time?



The American League Playoff Situation:

This is boiling down to this: not who will make the playoffs but who will be seeded where?
BOS-NY-LA-CLE are all in. LA will win the West, CLE the Central and right now the East is still up for grabs. All four of these teams have a chance to finish with the AL's best record, earning home field advantage throughout.

The Yankees have to contend with Halladay-Burnett, Mcgowan-Marcum this weekend so I suspect BOS will be able to hang on and win the East. Who will play whom? Stay tuned!



The National League Playoff Situation:

WOW. What to make of this situation right?

NYM-PHI (East)
CHI-MIL (Central)
ARI-SD (West)

CHI-MIL loser is out... no chance at Wild Card.

NYM-PHI-ARI-SD are basically playing musical chairs, with 3 spots to divide between these four teams.

The NL East will be decided by the Washington Nationals. They have 7 games against Philly and 4 against the Mets. The Mets also have 7 against Florida while the Phils have 3 against Atlanta. BUT... I suspect the Nats will relish having a say in which team wins the NL East, playing the role of spoiler!

ARI has to deal with PITT-COL-LA so their road wont be an easy one... BUT, San Diego's road is even tougher: They play Pitt-SF-COL and have to finish the season playing four games in Milwaukee. OUCH!

BUT... ARI-SD have the slight edge on NYM-PHI in the Wild Card race so the runner-up may still get their reward.

In the Central division... The Cubs play Pitt-FLA-CIN, playing their final 6 on the road. The Brewers have a brutal stretch: HOU-ATL-STL-SD... OUCH!

I would guess that the Mets hold on and win the East, the Cubs win the Central, San Diego wins the West and the Phils finally make it across the finish line heading toward October, as they capture the Wild Card!