MLB Standings 2018: Red Sox Cruising To AL East Title, Yankees Fighting For Wild-Card Spot

The Boston Red Sox (79-34) have all but wrapped up the AL East with eight weeks still left in the 2018 MLB regular season. After completing a four-game sweep of the New York Yankees (68-42) at Fenway Park, Boston has a 9.5-game lead in the division, giving them the biggest first-place edge in all of baseball.

Even with so much time left on the schedule, Boston’s lead atop the overall MLB standings seems virtually insurmountable. On pace to win a franchise-record 113 games, the Red Sox are eight games ahead of the Houston Astros (71-42) for the best record in the league. If Boston finishes the season with a 21-28 record over the next two months, they will still win 100 games.

Both Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez are MVP candidates with each player having an OPS north of 1.000. Betts leads the majors with a .342 batting average and Martinez is tied for the MLB-lead with 33 home runs, giving the Red Sox the sport’s No.1 offense. Chris Sale is the AL Cy Young favorite with a 2.04 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP.

The Yankees are still on pace to win 100 games and only trail the Astros by a game and a half for the second-best record in the majors. A split at Fenway Park would’ve kept New York just four games behind Boston in the loss column.

The absence of Aaron Judge has been evident since the outfielder went down with a chip fracture in his wrist. The Yankees totaled six runs in their last three games against the Red Sox without their best player, and the team will be without him and catcher Gary Sanchez for a few more weeks.

The AL Wild-Card race has all of a sudden become much tighter than the AL East race. The Yankees are just 2.5 games ahead of the Oakland Athletics (67-46) for the first wild-card berth. Oakland has the same lead over the Seattle Mariners (64-48) for the second spot.

New York went from last year’s AL Wild-Card Game all the way to Game 7 of the ALCS. They would almost certainly have to go through Boston in this year’s ALDS in order to get back to the championship series.

MLB’s four best teams all reside in the American League. The Chicago Cubs (64-47) have the National League’s best record. They would be two games out of the wild-card race in the AL.