Call to the pen
Fansided

MLB Postseason Wrap: Giants Continue Trending Downward at Mile High

By Jason Burke

Sep 5, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; San Francisco Giants right fielder Hunter Pence (8) comes out of the dugout during the seventh inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. The Rockies defeated the Giants 6-0. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 5, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; San Francisco Giants right fielder Hunter Pence (8) comes out of the dugout during the seventh inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. The Rockies defeated the Giants 6-0. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 3
Next
Sep 4, 2016; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles catcher Matt Wieters (32) warms up in the on deck circle during the game against the New York Yankees at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 4, 2016; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles catcher Matt Wieters (32) warms up in the on deck circle during the game against the New York Yankees at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports /

AL Wild Card/AL East

For all intents and purposes, the AL West is all wrapped up for the Texas Rangers, with the Houston Astros sitting 8.5 games behind their in-state rivals and for the most part, unable to beat the one team ahead of them in the standings. Houston’s AL West elimination number sits at just 17, with 24 games left. With three head-to-head match-ups remaining on the schedule between the two teams, if current trends continue (Texas is 13-3 against Houston in 2016), then that number will shrink by two for every game that the Astros drop in that series. Instead, they’ll likely focus on making the playoffs as a wild card team for the second straight year.

The AL Central is a much closer race with the Detroit Tigers sitting 4.5 games back of Cleveland, but the Indians have held similar dominance (11-1) over the Tigers this season with seven games left between the two. Detroit has a higher elimination number for the division at 22, but with seven head-to-head match-ups, that number could drop pretty quick.

The AL East is easily the most compelling MLB postseason race to keep an eye on, at least as far as divisions go. The Toronto Blue Jays hold a slim lead over both Boston (1 game) and Baltimore (2), but even the Yankees are within shouting distance at 5.5 back with all but three of their remaining games left with either the three teams above them, or the Tampa Bay Rays.

More from Call to the Pen

The Blue Jays dropped their series opener to the Yankees on Monday after Masahiro Tanaka went 6 1/3 innings and allowed just two earned. Jacoby Ellsbury was the difference for New York, going 3-for-4 with three RBI. The two teams square off tomorrow at Yankee Stadium with Aaron Sanchez taking on Luis Cessa. Cessa has gone six innings in each of his three starts and has given up four homers over his last two. While he hasn’t been burned by them yet (Yankees 3-0 in his starts), Toronto may be the team to capitalize if this trend continues.

The Red Sox dropped their game to the Padres, as trade deadline addition Drew Pomeranz faced his former team in his former home ballpark. While he was solid, a two-run fourth by San Diego ended up being too much of a deficit for the best offense in baseball to overcome.

The Orioles won their game against Tampa, 2-1, to gain a game on both Toronto in the AL East and Boston as the first wild card.

As things stand entering play on Tuesday, the Sox hold a one game lead over both the O’s and Tigers, who are tied for the second wild card spot, while Houston (2 back) New York (3.5), Kansas City (4) and Seattle (5) are still very much in the playoff mix.

Playoff Odds:

Texas and Cleveland have nice grasps on their divisions, giving them the status of “near locks” at 99.8 percent and 98.8 percent respectively. The other division leader in Toronto has good odds to make the playoffs at the very least, with an 87.0 percent chance, but their AL East mates from Boston (82.2), Baltimore (42.4) and New York (3.9) are all still alive.

While Houston is seemingly out of the division race, they still have a good chance of grabbing a wild card spot at 18.4 percent, especially given that the AL East opponents will be beating up on each other while the Astros have three left against the A’s and seven against the Angels. They also have six left against Seattle, who have a 3.2 percent chance of making the playoffs at the moment. These six games could either help vault the Mariners back into the MLB playoff discussion, or essentially knock them out.

The Tigers currently have a hold of one of the two wild card spots, and FanGraphs likes their chances of grabbing one of the two over the O’s, with Detroit holding a 61.3 percent chance of a playoff spot, and a 52.5 percent chance at a wild card spot (8.8 for division). The defending champion Royals have just a 3.1 percent chance of defending their crown.

Next: Blue Jays All-Time 25 Man Roster

Elimination Numbers:

The only team to be knocked out of their divisional race right now is the Minnesota Twins (51-87), who have the worst record in baseball. The A’s, Angels and Rays are racing to join them however, with elimination numbers of two, six and eight.

In the wild card even Minnesota still has a glimmer of hope (thanks, math) with a single loss, or basically any other team’s win being the final nail in their 2016 season. One of those two should happen today.

Home/MLB News