AL Wild Card standings: A’s, Royals keep sliding
By Ed Carroll
This is the final full week of the MLB season, and two teams, the Baltimore Orioles and Los Angeles Angels, have clinched their divisions, but seven teams continue to vie for the remaining spots: AL Central division winner and the two Wild Card berths. So here’s your AL Wild Card standings update for Sunday, September 21.
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The Detroit Tigers’ win over the Kansas City Royals increased Detroit’s lead on the Central division to two-and-a-half games, though Kansas City still holds the second Wild Card spot.
It’s been a rough month for the Royals and it’s likely only going to get tougher — KC will attempt to salvage the final game in a series against the Tigers, then head to Cleveland for three-plus games: in addition to the three scheduled games against the Cleveland Indians, a team whose own playoff hopes aren’t over but are on life support, the Royals and Indians must make up a suspended game from August 31 with the Indians leading 4-2 in the bottom of the 10th.
The Indians have a 92 percent chance of winning that game, so the Royals have to keep winning to hold on to the Wild Card spot, let alone reclaim the division.
Meanwhile, the Oakland Athletics near-historic collapse continued, as the A’s offense couldn’t get started and Oakland lost 3-0 to the lowly Philadelphia Phillies. Oakland’s once-commanding lead in the AL West has long since evaporated (the Angels clinched the West earlier this week) and now the A’s own the first Wild Card spot by a mere half-game over the Royals.
Among the other teams, the Seattle Mariners remain a half-game behind the Royals after being blasted by the Houston Astros, 10-1. The Indians kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a 7-3 win in Minnesota, and the two final playoff contenders played each other: the Toronto Blue Jays won 6-3 against the New York Yankees in the Bronx.
Toronto is 5.5 GB of the second Wild Card, as well.
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