MLB Playoff Wrap: Giants Turning Things Around?

The MLB playoff races are beginning to reach a boiling point, and with just three weeks until the end of the regular reason, each game will feel like a must win for teams on the bubble.

The San Francisco Giants had their top three starters lined up for their weekend series in Arizona, a team that has been making more news for how their front office operates than the results on the field. In other words, the Diamondbacks are having a forgettable season, and San Francisco took full advantage by sweeping the three game set.

Yesterday the Cardinals entered play with control of the second wild card spot, but with their loss and the Mets win, the two teams flip-flopped positions yet again, benefitting the Giants who now have a 1.5 game lead.

After an 0-for-18 slump, Brandon Belt has recorded a hit in each of his last four games; three of which have been multi-hit performances. He has also driven in six in that span, which has helped ignite an offense that mustered just two hits in Colorado a week ago.

The Giants have built themselves a slight cushion in the wild card race, and in doing so, have also picked up a couple of games on the Dodgers in the NL West. Los Angeles dropped two of three to Miami over the weekend and have seen their five game lead trimmed to three in the span of just three days.

The Giants return home on Monday to face the Padres, which should be a good test to see if their newfound offensive output has been the product of the hitter friendly environments of Colorado and Arizona, or if something has officially clicked. Following those three with San Diego the Giants welcome St. Louis for four games from Thursday through Sunday, then travel down south to face the Dodgers for three. The next ten games could prove to be huge for the Giants postseason chances.

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Over the next few days, the Giants will face the Padres at home, the Cardinals have three at home against the Cubs, the Dodgers travel to New York to play the red-hot Yankees, and the Mets travel to Washington for three against the Nats. San Francisco has the easiest match-up of the quartet by far, and could use that to pad their lead in the wild card and continue to gain ground in the divisional race. They are 9-3 against the Pads this season.

Out in the AL East, the Red Sox rebounded from their loss on Saturday to defeat the Blue Jays in Toronto 11-8. Boston now holds a two game lead over both Toronto (who lost) and Baltimore (who beat the Tigers), while the Jays and O’s are tied for both wild card spots.

What wasn’t surprising in the Sox/Jays game was that Clay Buchholz served up six earned over just three innings. What was surprising was that Aaron Sanchez, who has been mentioned in the AL Cy Young conversation at points throughout the season, also served up six earned, but lasted two outs longer than Buchholz. Clay for Cy Young!

The Yankees entered yesterday with a seven-game winning streak, but all good things must come to an end. I mentioned Luis Cessa‘s splits in yesterday’s column, and how that could spell trouble against the Rays on Sunday, and they were trouble as the Yanks fell 4-2. On the bright side, Luis Severino has continued to be an enormous addition to the Bronx bullpen, adding another 2 1/3 innings to his scoreless streak as a reliever, which now stands at 16 2/3 over the course of the season.

Both the Tigers and Yankees are now two games back of Baltimore and Toronto with their losses on Sunday, while the Astros, who lost to the Cubs on Sunday Night Baseball, are 3.5 back. Sneaking up on Houston in the MLB playoff hunt are the Seattle Mariners, who have won five straight, baseball’s current high mark. The Astros get three games at home against the Rangers, who are always tough on Houston, while the M’s travel to Disneyland to play the Angels. The two teams will play one another for three games in Seattle next weekend.

Next: Giants Attempted to Acquire Wade Davis

MLB Playoff Odds:

Divisional Leaders: Cubs 100%, Nationals 100%, Rangers 99.9%, Cleveland 99.7%, Dodgers 99.6%, Red Sox 93.4%

AL Wild Card: Blue Jays 75.5%, Orioles 56.7%, Tigers 34.6% Yankees 13.5% Mariners 12%, Astros 11.5%, Royals 3.9%

NL Wild Card: Giants 87.1%, Mets 69.3%, Cardinals 41.9%, Marlins 1.3%, Pirates 0.7%

Elimination Numbers:

The D-Backs, A’s and Padres all have elimination numbers of three, and could each be eliminated from wild card contention as early as Tuesday. The Reds (5), Angels (6), Phillies (7) and Brewers (8) could also be mathematically eliminated by the time the week is out.

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