Photo credit, Bob Levey/Getty Image
Heading down the stretch, Major League Baseball teams brace for postseason play. It’s a month and a half left in the regular season.
Let’s look at the teams who are possible playoff contenders. In the National League, the No. 1 team in baseball, the Dodgers — are on a role. Before being shut out, 4-0 by the Royals on August 14, 2022, LA held a 12-game winning streak.
The Dodgers (80-34) hold a 17-game lead over the Padres (65-53) and 22.5 over the Giants (58-57).
In the NL East, the Mets (75-41) hold a four and a-half lead over Atlanta (71-46), who helped itself by defeating the Mets 13-1 on August 15, 2022, at Truist Park. The two teams will face each other three more times in the current series before the Mets head to Philadelphia.
The Cardinals (63-51) are two games in front of the Brewers (61-53) in the NL Central. In a recent series, the Cardinals took two out of three from Milwaukee (3-1, 2-3, 6-3).
In the American League, the Astros (75-42) hold a four-game margin over the Yankees for the best record in the league.
Houston dropped the first game of a four-game series to the White Sox, 4-2. With two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning and trailing 2-0, AJ Polluck’s Infield hit set the stage for the White Sox rally. Andrew Vaughn lifted a soft liner just inside the right field foul line for a double as Polluck moved to third. Eloy Jimenez lined a run-scoring double down the third base side, sending Polluck to home plate. Then Yoan Moncada’s two-RBI single to center provided the Sox with a 4-2 lead and the victory.
The Astros/Sox series continues tonight at Guaranteed Rate Field at 7:10 P.M., where Dylan Cease will take on Justin Verlander.
The Yankees began the season hot and held the best record in baseball for more than half the season. Recently New York, which leads the AL East, has slipped to fourth place behind the Dodgers, Mets, and the Astros for the top.
Cleveland (62-54), fresh off of a four-game split against the Astros, carry a two-game lead over the White Sox (60-56) and Minnesota (59-55) in the AL Central.
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