MLB Standings 2021: NL West, NL East Undecided With Dodgers, Phillies Surging

With one month left in the 2021 MLB regular season, two divisional races stand out as the most intriguing. Six teams have seemingly wrapped up first place, but the NL West and NL East are still up for grabs.

The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants are tied atop the NL West with the exact same record. The Atlanta Braves only have a two-game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East.

The Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago White Sox are cruising to titles in the NL Central and AL Central, respectively, with leads north of nine games. The Tampa Bay Rays have a comfortable 6.5-game lead in the AL East. The Houston Astros are 4.5 games ahead of the Oakland Athletics for first place in the AL West.

Los Angeles finally climbed back to the top of the division Wednesday after spending four-plus months out of first place. With eight straight NL West titles, the defending champion Dodgers have been World Series favorites all season long. San Francisco’s pitching staff has made it the league’s most surprising team, turning the NL West into a two-team race.

The Dodgers have been playing up to their lofty expectations since acquiring Max Scherzer and Trea Turner at the trade deadline, winning 23 of their last 29 games. The Giants snapped a four-game losing streak Thursday with a win over the Brewers.

San Francisco hosts Los Angeles Friday to start their final series of the season.

The second-place finisher in the NL West will go on to host the NL Wild-Card Game. The division champion will likely earn home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs. L.A. and San Francisco are 3.5 games ahead of Milwaukee in the overall NL standings.

The San Diego Padres were once viewed as the Dodgers’ biggest threat, but they are 14 games out of first place and focused on trying to win the second wild-card berth.

The New York Mets are barely clinging on to their playoff hopes, sitting five games out of both the NL East and wild-card race. It’ll likely be the Phillies or the Braves that wins the division.

It appeared that Atlanta might be well on their way toward a fourth straight NL East crown when a nine-game winning streak gave the Braves a five-game, first-place edge on Aug. 23. Philadelphia won’t go away, winning six straight games to close the gap.

The Phillies don’t rank better than average in runs scored or ERA. The Braves are in the top half of the NL in both hitting and pitching. Philadelphia is 25-18 in one-run games, however, and Atlanta is two games below .500 in such contests.

Atlanta hosts Philadelphia for a three-game series to start the final week of the season.