Seattle, meanwhile, is in a precarious position. 22-24 and then four in Seattle over the final weekend of the regular season. After that, though, comes the stretch that will define their season (and likely this division): seven games against the Mariners, three in Texas from Sept. The Rangers will finish up this road trip with three games in Cleveland this weekend, before heading home for three against the Red Sox. But Texas picked itself up off the deck this week, taking four straight from the Blue Jays in Toronto to move back into the second Wild Card spot at 82-64. The Rangers seemed to be taking on water amid 12 losses in a 16-game stretch (not to mention a season-ending injury to Max Scherzer). Six remaining games against the Royals should help, but series against the O’s, Mariners and D-backs also loom. The Astros still lead this division at 83-64, a half-game up on Texas and 1.5 up on Seattle, but they haven’t quite fired the boosters the way many predicted after their aggressive trade deadline. Houston had an oddly tough time with the A’s this week, and now they’ll hope to avoid stubbing their toe against the AL’s other doormat this weekend. Cleveland and Kansas City will both have a chance to shape the AL West race this weekend. The Central is all but decided at this point - Minnesota’s magic number now sits at eight - and with the Guardians well out of Wild Card contention, the rest of these teams can only hope to play spoiler over the next couple weeks. Minnesota hasn’t made it easy on themselves, but after a win in their series finale against the White Sox on Thursday the Twins are now a full eight up on Cleveland for the division lead. The Jays, however, need to pull out of their Wild Card nosedive, as a four-game sweep at home at the hands of the Rangers has dropped them 2.5 games behind Texas (and 1.5 games behind Seattle) in the standings. Stakes are also high north of the border: After firing chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom on Thursday and with seven games to make up over the next two-plus weeks, Boston likely has its sights set on next season. If the O’s are able to take at least two of four this weekend, that’ll go a long way toward their first AL East title since 2014 if Tampa notches a series win, though, all bets are off over the final two weeks. The Rays’ win in the series opener on Thursday sliced Baltimore’s lead to just one game (two in the loss column). AL East Weekend seriesĪll eyes will be on Camden Yards, as the Rays and Orioles continue to duke it out for control of this division. With several huge series on tap over the next couple of days, here’s a primer of what’s at stake this weekend around the Majors. Some division races have been put to bed - either officially or unofficially - but there is still a lot to sort out as the playoff picture in both leagues starts to come into focus. Hard as it is to believe, there are now just three weekends left in the 2023 MLB season.
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