Power Poll: Yanks and Angels Stay on Top
Ryan Fagan - SportingNews.com
Aug 17, 2009
The baseball schedule is steamrolling into late August, which is make-or-break territory. Well, in the wild-card races, at least.
Five of the six division leaders enter the week with an advantage of at least 4 1/2 games, but the wild-card races are much more interesting. The Rays and Red Sox are within striking distance of the Rangers in the AL, though at 3 1/2 back the Rays can't afford another five-game skid like they went through last week.
The NL is even more intriguing. Five teams are within 3 1/2 games of each other, and one of the teams at the back end -- the Braves -- has what is quite possibly the deepest rotation in baseball right now.
1. Yankees (last week: 1). Their huge lead in the AL East affords them the luxury of being very careful with their rotation. Especially important with Joba Chamberlain and his innings limit.
2. Angels (2). And now they have Torii Hunter back in the lineup. Just doesn't seem fair, does it?
3. Dodgers (3). Huge series with the Cardinals starts today at Dodger Stadium.
4. Phillies (6). The Phillies continued their dominating ways on the road, sweeping the Cubs in Wrigley and then taking two of three from the Braves. The latter was especially important because Atlanta -- a division rival -- had been one of the hottest teams in baseball.
5. Cardinals (5). Huge series with the Dodgers starts today at Dodger Stadium.
6. Rangers (4). Ladies and gentlemen, your AL wild-card leaders. Taking two of three from the Red Sox over the weekend was huge, but that what-might-have-been taste lingers a bit: closer Frank Francisco gave up six runs in the ninth inning Friday as Boston rallied for an 8-4 victory.
7. Red Sox (7). Sing along with me … "The wheels on the bus fall off and off, off and off, off and off. The wheels on the bus fall off and off, away from Fenway Park." The Sox are just 5-13 on the road in the second half, and three of those five wins were against the last-place Orioles.
8. Rockies (9). Who would have thought that Jason Marquis would be in position to make the playoffs and the Cubs -- the team that cast him away after last season -- would not?
9. Giants (8). Eugenio Velez is batting .350 with three homers and 13 RBIs since the Giants recalled him from Class AAA Fresno.
10. Rays (11). That trip out west was nothing short of a disaster (1-5 against the Mariners and Angels). They went 2-1 against the Jays at Tropicana Field, and they have six games left on this homestand, against the Orioles and Rangers (did I mention they're the wild-card leaders?). The Rays absolutely must take two of three from Texas.
11. Marlins (13). The Marlins have won seven of their past eight series. The lone blemish? Getting swept in Washington.
12. Tigers (10). The Tigers are doing their best not to pull away from the White Sox in the Central -- they're 14-16 since the break -- but they still hold a 2 1/2-game lead.
13. Braves (14). Owners of the best team ERA since the break -- a spiffy 3.07 -- the Braves wasted a great chance to gain ground on the Phillies in the East. Still players in the wild-card race, though, only 3 1/2 out there.
14. Mariners (15). Russell Branyan experiment update: He has plummeted back to earth. Since his 10-game hitting streak ended on June 30, Branyan is batting just .181 with a middle-infieldish .672 OPS.
15. Cubs (12). Looks like their run of consecutive postseason appearances will end at two. It's the longest such streak for the franchise since 1908.
16. White Sox (16). Yes, it's very, very early in his White Sox career, but Alex Rios is just 3-for-19 in his first four games with the Southsiders.
17. Brewers (17). I've said it before and I'll say it again: Prince Fielder is in the midst of his best all-around season. He and Ryan Braun are reason enough to watch the Brewers.
18. Astros (18). Houston's annual second-half run hasn't quite kicked in yet; they're just 13-17 since the break.
19. Blue Jays (20). In his three starts since he wasn't moved at the trade deadline, Roy Halladay is 2-1 with a 2.52 ERA. Same as he ever was.
20. Mets (21). In this crazy season for the Mets, isn't the real surprise that it took so long for David Wright to land on the disabled list?
21. Twins (19). Turn out the lights. This party's over.
22. Diamondbacks (22). In case you're wondering, Chris Young is batting .429 in his first three games since being sent down to Class AAA Reno.
23. Athletics (23). About a month ago, we told you about young lefty starter Brett Anderson's hot streak (21 consecutive scoreless innings). Now, it's young lefty starter Gio Gonzalez. In his four starts prior to stumbling against the White Sox on Saturday, Gonzalez had a 3-0 record with a 1.46 ERA.
24. Indians (24). Now that Cliff Lee (7 wins) and Carl Pavano (9 wins) are gone, the Indians might not have a starter reach double-digit victories. Aaron Laffey and David Huff, who have seven each, are the only two with even an outside shot.
25. Padres (25). After watching his average drop all the way to .246 on July 26, Adrian Gonzalez has been ripping the ball. He's batting .431 since that day, including a blistering .633 on the Padres' just-completed six-game road trip.
26. Orioles (26). Raise your hand if you had Luke Scott leading the Orioles in homers midway through August.
27. Nationals (27). What is it about interim managers named Jim? The Rockies took off after Jim Tracy took over the managerial reigns. And with Jim Riggleman at the helm, the Nationals are 17-14 after the All-Star break.
28. Reds (28). The Reds enter the week a game behind the Indians in the battle for Ohio supremacy. No doubt you're riveted.
29. Pirates (29). With the Nationals' recent surge (11 wins in their past 14 games), there's actual competition to see who will finish last overall and secure that No. 1 overall pick. The Nats have 43 wins on the season; the Pirates have 46 …
30. Royals (30). … and so do the Royals.
Ryan Fagan is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at rfagan@sportingnews.com.
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