The American League playoff race has the same eight teams in realistic contention that there were when we covered this topic in last Monday’s MLB coverage, but the cards were shuffled a bit, thanks in no small part to the devastation the Detroit Tigers wreaked on the city of Cleveland.
The American League looks be the league most under threat of serious alteration to its playoff landscape when MLB announces its BioGenesis suspensions later today, as is expected. Most of the name players involved are from AL teams—from Alex Rodriguez to Nelson Cruz to Jhonny Peralta to Bartolo Colon. So as we wait, our MLB coverage gives a summation of how the race looks right now, including injuries and the schedule ahead.
No two teams in the American League have been bigger surprises than the Baltimore Orioles and the Oakland A’s. The Orioles, in spite of sluggish play through the summer continue to set the pace for the AL’s second wild-card spot, with a 46-41 record. Oakland isn’t far behind at 45-43. TheSportsNotebook takes a look at both teams here on the first weekend of the seasons second half…