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MLB Wild Card Standings: Twins take AL lead; Rockies holding on in NL

By Nicholas Ian Allen

TORONTO, ON - AUGUST 26: Byron Buxton (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - AUGUST 26: Byron Buxton (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 27: Gary Sanchez (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 27: Gary Sanchez (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

AL Wild Card Standings

New York Yankees (70-59, .543, +3.5)

The Yankees picked up ground on the rival Red Sox in the AL East, and pushed their lead in the AL Wild Card standings to five games with a pair of series wins against the Tigers and Mariners last week.

Gary Sanchez led the way offensively with 10 hits, including four home runs, and 10 RBI. Ronald Torreyes was close behind with nine hits in only four games, and hit .643 for the week. New York capitalized on outstanding starting pitching, with Sonny Gray, C.C. Sabathia, Luis Severino and Masahiro Tanaka all putting together quality performances on the mound.

Minnesota Twins (67-63, .515, – GB)

No one in the majors scored more runs than Byron Buxton last week. Buxton crossed the plate nine times in eight games, and also hit .333/.343/.818 with five home runs and 10 RBI. He homered three times Sunday and drove in five in Minnesota’s 7-2 win over the Blue Jays.

Other key contributors included Joe Mauer, who scored eight runs, and Jorge Polanco, who drove in 11, which led the American League. Polanco hit four home runs. Kyle Gibson surrendered just three runs in two starts for the Twins, and picked up a pair of big wins.

Los Angeles Angels (66-65, .504, 1.5 GB)

Seattle Mariners (66-65, .504, 1.5 GB)

Baltimore Orioles (65-65, .500, 2 GB)

Kansas City Royals (64-65, .504, 2.5 GB)

Tampa Bay Rays (65-67, .492, 3 GB)

Texas Rangers (64-66, .492, 3 GB)

Toronto Blue Jays (61-69, .469, 6 GB)

Oakland Athletics (58-72, .446, 9 GB)

Detroit Tigers (56-73, .434, 10.5 GB)

Chicago White Sox (52-77, .403, 14.5 GB)

The AL Wild Card race is tighter than ever with six teams within three games of the final postseason spot. Several starting pitchers came up big during the week to keep their teams close.

Rays starter Chris Archer led the majors with 18 strikeouts last week. Archer posted a 1.38 ERA in 13 innings across two starts. Orioles right-hander Kevin Gausman tossed 7.2 scoreless innings against the Red Sox Saturday, and teammate Wade Miley was 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA in 11 innings across two starts.

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