Sep 16, 2013
The American League’s West and East division titles have looked just about wrapped up for a little while now, but a weekend where leaders the Oakland Athletics and Boston Red Sox each swept division rivals has left the process looking like nothing less than a formality. The questions will now turn to whether the Athletics and Red Sox can translate their expectation exceeding regular season performances into postseason success.
The best chance for the Texas Rangers to stay in the AL West division title race was surely a three-game mid-September series against Oakland. However, a 5-1 loss, where the Rangers failed to convert 10 hits, on Sunday in Arlington completed a sweep of that series for the Athletics. Texas now sits 6 1/2 games back in the division and has posted a remarkably poor 2-11 record through September. A late season collapse could potentially happen in Oakland, but this is a team playing assured and confident baseball.
(AP Photo/Matt Strasen)
The Athletics’ success this season has been somewhat unprecedented. The AL West was coveted as one of the MLB’s toughest division in preseason, but mainly because it was anticipated that the LA Angels and Rangers would both be serious World Series contenders and would battle it out in a terrific division title race. Instead reliable and consistent play in just about every facet has allowed Oakland to control the division in the later stages of the season. This is a roster that got great experience in their tough 3-2 series loss against the Detroit Tigers in 2012. It will be interesting to see whether they can some of the bigger name line-ups in a playoff series.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox further asserted their dominance of the AL East by sweeping bitter rivals the New York Yankees. A series win over the Tampa Bay Rays last week was probably the serious clincher for Boston, but another victory over a division rival chasing a playoff spot leaves John Farrell’s team with a 9 1/2 cushion for top spot in the division.
The East was considered to be a tight five team race heading into the season. It was always hard to see the Red Sox coming out of that race, but somehow Boston has produced the most successful offense in the Majors. They lead the MLB in runs scored (791), on-base percentage (.350) and slugging percentage (.445), while coming in second in terms of batting average (.276). 2013 has been the season where David Ortiz, Jacoby Ellsbury and Daniel Nava have finally all produced together, while contributions from Shane Victorino, Mike Napoli and Daniel Nava have been more than helpful. This offense has been about far more than just the stars though. The likes of Jose Iglesias and Jonny Gomes have been no less important to a team that has found a way to give serious run support for a pitching staff that has rarely been fully healthy.Official postseason status now appears to be a simple formality for Oakland and Boston. That leaves just the Detroit Tigers attempting to fight off the Cleveland Indians as the only division title fight left in the American League. The business end of the baseball season is closing in. There’s plenty of intrigue left to be decided including the riveting race for the two Wildcard spots and final playoff match-ups being decided.
Neither the Athletics or the Red Sox will mind sitting out that intrigue though as these two rosters prepare for what they hope will be a long October.
