AL WILD-CARD RACE DRAWS CROWD
6 teams alive; AL East title up for grabs
Even the most hard-core baseball purist must be grateful for the existence of the wild card these days, when the American League East offers the only division race in the majors worth watching. Everywhere else the division leader held at least a five-game lead — and in two cases a double-digit margin — going into Thursday’s action.
The wild-card races, on the other hand, present myriad possibilities for teams to sneak into the postseason party, from perennial contenders such as the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals to the barely breathing Miami Marlins.
In the AL alone, there are no less than six teams within 31⁄ 2 games of a postseason spot, and the left-for-dead Seattle Mariners have photo-bombed their way into the playoff picture with an eightgame winning streak that started shortly after they had lost 10 of 12. Now they’re 11⁄ games back of the 2 second wild card and have plenty of wind in their sails.
Here’s a look at three weekend series between contenders that could have a profound impact on the wild-card races: New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox: While no longer the East behemoths of years past, both clubs are in the thick of the playoff chase, with the Yankees stubbornly refusing to throw in the towel even after trading away Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller and Carlos Beltran.
New York sent out staff ace Masahiro Tanaka on Thursday but planned to rely on rookies Luis Cessa and Bryan Mitchell to start the next two games before closing the series with veteran CC Sabathia on the mound. That looms as a huge task for the two youngsters, who have started a combined seven games in the big leagues, especially against the majors’ most prolific offense, and at cozy Fenway Park, no less.
The right-handers are part of a roster rejuvenation — led by slugging catcher Gary Sanchez — that has helped keep the Yankees in contention despite a negative run differential (-12).
“Some are obviously doing the slow burn, and other ones are hot as a firecracker,” general manager Brian Cashman said of the rookies. “The collection of them with the veterans doing their gig, it’s been good baseball for the New York Yankees.”
The division-leading Red Sox, winners of eight of their last 13, also have the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays on their tail. Boston’s starting pitching has made big strides in the second half, putting up a 3.44 ERA since July 9. Lefty David Price has logged a 2.99 ERA since the AllStar break, more than a run less than his 4.34 mark before. Cardinals at Giants: While the Giants are desperately trying to figure out how to stop the worst second-half slide in baseball — they have a 20-35 mark after taking the majors’ best record into the break — the Cardinals are just thrilled to hit the road. Huh?
St. Louis’ 33-41 mark at Busch Stadium represents the first time it has a losing home record since 1999. So the 10-game trip that started Thursday at AT&T Park began at a good time for the Cardinals, who are trying to become the fourth team in baseball history to make the playoffs seven out of eight years.
They might have to address rotation issues along the way, namely the status of left-hander Jaime Garcia, who has an 8.23 ERA in his last six starts and who will be replaced Sunday by hard-throwing rookie Alex Reyes.
St. Louis, which went into Thursday trailing San Francisco by a game for a wild-card spot — the New York Mets were between them, half a game ahead of the Cardinals — won’t have top starter Carlos Martinez available for this series because he pitched Wednesday.
The Giants are coming off an inexplicable three-game home sweep at the hands of the San Diego Padres, who held them to five runs despite starting two pitchers with ERAs above 5.40. That pratfall increased the Giants’ deficit in the NL West to five games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers, but they still hold the slimmest of leads in the wild-card race, even after blowing six of 10 save chances in September and 27 overall.
“This second half ’s been something like I’ve never seen before,” staff ace Madison Bumgarner said after losing to the Padres 3-1 on Wednesday. “A lot of guys who have been around for a while say the same thing.” Houston Astros at Mariners: It’s not hard to figure out how the Mariners have won their last eight to creep back into the race: They’ve held opponents to 1.9 runs per game in the stretch, with the starters registering a 1.41 ERA.
They figure to have a good chance to extend their pitching mastery in a three-game set at home against the Astros, who trail them by two games. Houston lost key infielders Jose Altuve (side muscle) and Alex Bregman (hamstring) to injuries Wednesday and might not get them back for Friday’s series opener.
The Astros also are missing reigning Cy Young Award winner Dallas Keuchel, who is out with shoulder inflammation, but Friday starter Collin McHugh has won his last three decisions. He’ll be opposed by Felix Hernandez, who is 7-1 — albeit with a 4.22 ERA — since the All-Star break.