ASTROS, DODGERS LEAD WAY HEADING INTO 2ND HALF
The Washington Nationals have Bryce Harper anchoring one of baseball’s best lineups, and a glaring hole at the back of their bullpen. The Boston Red Sox are enjoying life with Chris Sale, and missing David Ortiz at times. The Chicago Cubs are searching for answers for their pesky championship hangover.
The Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros are looking down at the rest of the majors right now, and it’s quite a gap at the moment.
With the All-Star Game in the rearview mirror and the trade deadline inching closer, the World Series favorites are as clear as the
beautiful blue waters of Miami that hosted baseball’s best players for the past couple days. The Dodgers and Astros are each on pace to win 100-plus games, something that hasn’t happened for two teams in a single season since the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees in 2004.
“I don’t think there’s one key, but I think that’s probably why we’re doing so well — is that there’s not one specific thing you can hone in on as to why we’re playing so well,” Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw said.
Los Angeles leads the majors with a 61-29 record, one game better than Houston and 7 1/2 ahead of second-place Arizona in the loaded NL West. The Dodgers’ plus-163 run differential is the best in National League history at the AllStar
break, according to STATS LLC.
Kershaw has been, well, Kershaw, and Kenley Jansen remains one of the majors’ best closers. But rookie Cody Bellinger has provided an unexpected lift with 25 homers, and left- hander Alex Wood is 10-0 with a 1.67 ERA.
“Every night it’s some- body different, and that’s a sign of a good team,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “It seems like I say depth every single night, but that’s probably been the biggest reason for our success.”
The Astros are feeling pretty good, too. Led by AllStars Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve and George Springer, they top the majors in runs, hits, home runs, RBIs and batting average. Perhaps most importantly, they also have a whopping 16 1/2-game lead in the AL West, allowing them to go slowly with Dallas Keuchel after the 2015 AL Cy Young Award winner was shelved by a neck injury. Boston New York Tampa Bay Baltimore Toronto Cleveland Minnesota Kansas City Detroit Chicago Houston Los Angeles Texas Seattle Oakland
Tuesday’s games
AL 2, NL 1, 10 innings
Friday’s games
Chicago Cubs at Baltimore, 7:05 p.m. N.Y. Yankees at Boston, 7:10 p.m. Toronto at Detroit, 7:10 p.m. Minnesota at Houston, 8:10 p.m. Seattle at Chicago White Sox, 8:10 p.m. Texas at Kansas City, 8:15 p.m. Cleveland at Oakland, 10:05 p.m. Tampa Bay at L.A. Angels, 10:07 p.m.
Saturday’s games
N.Y. Yankees at Boston, 4:05 p.m. Toronto at Detroit, 6:10 p.m. Chicago Cubs at Baltimore, 7:05 p.m. Minnesota at Houston, 7:10 p.m. Seattle at Chicago White Sox, 7:10 p.m. Texas at Kansas City, 7:15 p.m. Cleveland at Oakland, 9:05 p.m. Tampa Bay at L.A. Angels, 9:07 p.m. Los Angeles Arizona Colorado San Diego San Francisco
Tuesday’s games
AL 2, NL 1, 10 innings
Friday’s games
Chicago Cubs at Baltimore, 7:05 p.m. St. Louis at Pittsburgh, 7:05 p.m. Colorado at N.Y. Mets, 7:10 p.m. L.A. Dodgers at Miami, 7:10 p.m. Washington at Cincinnati, 7:10 p.m. Arizona at Atlanta, 7:35 p.m. Philadelphia at Milwaukee, 8:10 p.m. San Francisco at San Diego, 10:10 p.m.
Saturday’s games
Chicago Cubs at Baltimore, 7:05 p.m. St. Louis at Pittsburgh, 7:05 p.m. Arizona at Atlanta, 7:10 p.m. Colorado at N.Y. Mets, 7:10 p.m. L.A. Dodgers at Miami, 7:10 p.m. Philadelphia at Milwaukee, 7:10 p.m. Washington at Cincinnati, 7:10 p.m. San Francisco at San Diego, 8:40 p.m.