Things have really Tightened Up in the A.L. East

[sangar]

That's hard to believe. Confirmation?

I can't confirm it and probably shouldn't have written it. Some announcer said it on the Angels broadcast tonight. That's all I got.

[osbaseball08]

That's hard to believe. Confirmation?

From Elias: This is the first time the Yankees have been swept in a 4-game series with each loss by one run. The last time the Yankees lost 4 straight games, each by one run, against the same opponent was against the Tigers from 1988-1989.

http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=320722111

[Frobby]

.

Even though the Athletics just threw them down the stairs, the Yankees are still well out in front.

The Orioles have shown some surprising fight in them in spite of would appeared to be a very bleak outlook only a week ago.

The Rays continue to gradually fade.

The Blue Jays came up swinging after being swept by the Yankees earlier in the week.

The Red Sox continue their descent into mediocrity.

The way you worded this implies you can actually spot a trend that is likely to continue. I see nothing other than the random results of a few days of a baseball season. The Rays and Red Sox could go anywhere from here.

[OFFNY]

The way you worded this implies you can actually spot a trend that is likely to continue. I see nothing other than the random results of a few days of a baseball season. The Rays and Red Sox could go anywhere from here.

The Rays were 35-25 at one point, in first place by half a game. They have gone 14-22 since then over a 36 game period, and it has been a gradual fade for them, as you can see from their game results over that span. That isn't a few random results, that a long span of almost 6 weeks. http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/TBR/2012-schedule-scores.shtml

My comment about the Red Sox was more in relation to their contrast of their having been a perennial power for a decade previous to this season, and the fact that unlike last last year when they made a huge surge to get back in front of the division after their 2-10 start, they haven't been able to anything other than get slightly above .500 since their similarly poor start (4-10) this season. And again, at 48-48, that isn't a few random results, that's a team that is at .500 well over halfway into the season after having won 90 or more games in 8 of the last 10 seasons, and 89 or more games in 9 of the last 10 seasons. Their one "bad" year was in 2006, when they went 86-76.

And yes, the Red Sox and the Rays can go anywhere from here, but so what ? So can the Orioles and the Blue Jays. Do I really need to clarify that by actually saying it ?

[Moose Milligan]

Awesome to see the Yanks get swept in Oakland with us gunning for a sweep tonight in Cleveland.

[OFFNY]

Awesome to see the Yanks get swept in Oakland with us gunning for a sweep tonight in Cleveland.

You're not doing a very good job of imitating the ultra-pessimistic guy that you kidnapped and stole the screen name from.

[Frobby]

I'm not suggesting how things will go for any of these teams. I just felt your wording implied that the Rays and Red Sox were doomed to continue playing as they have been playing. Five days ago, there were multiple threads suggesting the same thing about the Orioles, but the O's had other ideas. I may have read more into your post than you intended, I'm just saying that 67 games remaining is an eternity and there are probably many surprises in store.

[OFFNY]

I'm not suggesting how things will go for any of these teams. I just felt your wording implied that the Rays and Red Sox were doomed to continue playing as they have been playing. Five days ago, there were multiple threads suggesting the same thing about the Orioles, but the O's had other ideas. I may have read more into your post than you intended, I'm just saying that 67 games remaining is an eternity and there are probably many surprises in store.

OOOMaybe you're right. I guess I was just doing my Pat Summerall/Tom Brookshier imitation of their weekly comments on games and teams from "This week in Pro Football" back in the early 70's.

.

[Mr Snuffleupagus]

.

Even though the Athletics just threw them down the stairs, the Yankees are still well out in front.

The Orioles have shown some surprising fight in them in spite of would appeared to be a very bleak outlook only a week ago.

The Rays continue to gradually fade.

The Blue Jays came up swinging after being swept by the Yankees earlier in the week.

The Red Sox continue their descent into mediocrity.

YANKEES ......O 57 - 38

ORIOLES ......0 51 - 44

D-RAYS ..........)49 - 47

BLUE JAYS... 48 - 47

RED SOX .......o48 - 48

All I see is 3 teams that could be ahead of us by the end of the week. Gotta keep this great pitching going or we're doomed.

[OFFNY]

.

YANKEES ......O 63 - 45

ORIOLES ......0 58 - 51

D-RAYS ..........)56 - 52

RED SOX .......o55 - 55

BLUE JAYS... 53 - 55

.

[crowmst3k!]

.

YANKEES ......O 63 - 45

ORIOLES ......0 58 - 51

D-RAYS ..........)56 - 52

RED SOX .......o55 - 55

BLUE JAYS... 53 - 55

.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HusokNYOPSY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Yeah...that just happened.

[OFFNY]

.

The Orioles are knocking the Red Sox back. The Blue Jays have also fallen way behind.

YANKEES ......O 70 - 47

ORIOLES ......0 64 - 53

D-RAYS ..........)63 - 54

RED SOX .......o57 - 61

BLUE JAYS... 55 - 62

[isestrex]

Stupid Rangers can't even take a game against the Yankees <a href="http://s1106.photobucket.com/albums/h367/isestrex/Emoticons/?action=view&current=dry.gif" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1106.photobucket.com/albums/h367/isestrex/Emoticons/dry.gif" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

...they're about to be swept tomorrow.

[OFFNY]

.

A furious 14-3 run by the Rays, combined with the White Sox sweep of the Yankees now have Tampa Bay only 2 and-a-half games behind in the A.L. East.

YANKEES ......O 72 - 52

D-RAYS ..........)70 - 55

ORIOLES ......0 67 - 57

RED SOX .......o59 - 66

BLUE JAYS... 56 - 68

[El Gordo]

Seems pretty likely that the division leader and WC will be either the Rays or the MFY's. So we should focus our hopes on staying ahead of OAK, DET, and LAA.