MLB Standings 2018: Yankees Threatening Red Sox, Astros Fighting Off Athletics

With a month left on the regular-season schedule, there are two divisions that have yet to be decided in the American League. The Cleveland Indians (74-56) have all but clinched a playoff berth with a 13-game lead in an awful AL Central. The Boston Red Sox (90-42) lead the New York Yankees (83-48) by 6.5 games in the AL East, while the Houston Astros (81-50) are 2.5 games in front of the Oakland Athletics (79-53) in the AL West.

The Seattle Mariners (74-57) might still have their eyes on first place, though that no longer seems to be a realistic possibility. They’ll have to work on catching Oakland in the AL Wild-Card race as they try to work their way up the 2018 MLB standings. The top four teams in the AL have the four best records in all of baseball.

Seattle’s deficit in the division is only one more game than New York’s. The Mariners have to jump two teams. The Yankees just have to catch the Red Sox, though that’s seemed like a nearly impossible task since the All-Star break.

Boston has suddenly slowed down from their record-setting pace, hitting their first real bump in the road this season. After being swept by the Tampa Bay Rays, the Red Sox have lost six of their last eight games. The team no longer has MLB’s best run differential—that belongs to the Astros—and ace Chris Sale is serving a second stint on the disabled list.

New York’s attempt to erase what was a 10.5-game deficit just 10 days ago will come down to their head-to-head meetings with Boston. The rivals will face off six times in September, including during the final weekend of the season. Technically, the Yankees only have to cut three games off the Red Sox’s lead in the loss column before the final series in order to give themselves a chance, even though completing a sweep at Fenway Park is far from likely.

The Yankees are dealing with injuries to some of their best players. Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Didi Gregorius and Aroldis Chapman are all on the DL. New York is on pace to win 103 games.

Unlike the Yankees, the Athletics don’t have to wait a few weeks to get their shot at the team that sits atop their division. Oakland is in the midst of a three-game series with Houston. The A’s blew an early 4-0 lead and allowed the defending World Series champions to score 11 unanswered runs in a loss Monday night.

Oakland won’t get another chance to play Houston in the regular season after Wednesday. The two teams met nine times within the first few months of the season when the A’s didn’t look like a playoff contender. Oakland went 1-8 against Houston, but they’ve since turned their season around and performed like one of the best teams in baseball.

It will be difficult to catch the Astros, who are now at full strength and looking like the league’s most dangerous team come playoff time. Houston has MLB’s best pitching staff, and the first three hitters in their lineup Monday all made the All-Star team. Clean-up hitter Carlos Correa has battled injuries this season, but he’s back to playing every day after missing all of July.

The Red Sox, Yankees and Astros are all on pace to win over 100 games. No season in MLB history has seen three AL teams finish with at least 100 victories.