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

[Il BuonO]

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.

They did take one out of the four against them the last time they played. I know it seems like they got swept because the MFY won the first three and we were all hoping for better from the Rangers.

[scOtt]

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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

I had to look at schedules. I remembered we'd played them recently. We took 2 of 3 in their house Aug 3-5. The 14-3 is exactly TB's record since then. Like we woke them up or something...

[Frobby]

While of course my top priority is for the Orioles to make the playoffs and win the division if possible, it would be pretty sweet to see Tampa pass the Yankees and put them at risk of missing the playoffs entirely or, at best, having to play a one-game playoff to continue in the post-season. It was just a short while ago that it seemed a foregone conclusion that the Yankees would win the East.

[Frobby]

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The Rays continue to gradually fade....

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

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 ?

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.

The events of the last three weeks highlight the point that I was trying to make. The Rays went one direction, and the Red Sox went the other. I wonder what other surprises are in store in the final 6 weeks?

[Civ]

While of course my top priority is for the Orioles to make the playoffs and win the division if possible, it would be pretty sweet to see Tampa pass the Yankees and put them at risk of missing the playoffs entirely or, at best, having to play a one-game playoff to continue in the post-season. It was just a short while ago that it seemed a foregone conclusion that the Yankees would win the East.

I'd like to see this too, but the Rays' schedule from here on out is the toughest in the AL, I believe:

6 vs the O's

6 vs NYY

5 vs BOS

6 vs TOR

6 vs TEX

4 vs CHW

2 vs OAK

That's a little rougher that ours imo.

[OFFNY]

The events of the last three weeks highlight the point that I was trying to make. The Rays went one direction, and the Red Sox went the other. I wonder what other surprises are in store in the final 6 weeks?

By saying "the Rays and the Red Sox could go anywhere from here" really wasn't saying anything. That's true for almost any team at any time, save for the absolutely horrible teams like the Astros, the Cubs, the Rockies, etc ....... although, we were horrible for most of the last 2 years and then finished surprisingly strong. The Yankees were dominating at one point and led both the Rays and the Orioles by 10 games, and now their lead over those teams are only 2 and-a-half games and 5 games respectively. The Rays were fading gradually at that time, as they were only 2 games over .500 at 49-47 after a very hot start to the season.

The comments that I made were true at the time, as are the ones that I just made yesterday, so I don't know what your point is in disputing them as though they were/are somehow deceptive and/or inaccurate.

.

[Frobby]

By saying "the Rays and the Red Sox could go anywhere from here" really wasn't saying anything. That's true for almost any team at any time, save for the absolutely horrible teams like the Astros, the Cubs, the Rockies, etc ....... although, we were horrible for most of the last 2 years and then finished surprisingly strong. The Yankees were dominating at one point and led both the Rays and the Orioles by 10 games, and now their lead over those teams are only 2 and-a-half games and 5 games respectively. The Rays were fading gradually at that time, as they were only 2 games over .500 at 49-47 after a very hot start to the season.

The comments that I made were true at the time, as are the ones that I just made yesterday, so I don't know what your point is in disputing them as though they were/are somehow deceptive and/or inaccurate.

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I'm not trying to say you intended to deceive or mislead anyone. At this point, I'm just marveling at how streaky and unpredictable the game is. Both the Rays and Sox were struggling at the time. Now, one is dead and the other is red hot. You never know in this game.

[OFFNY]

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O

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[bluedog]

I want to hear these words coming out of an O's announcers mouth next week:

"The red hot Orioles come into Yankee stadium with a chance to catch NY for the division lead with a 3 game sweep."

Make it so.

[OFFNY]

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ONE is the loneliest number that you'll ever do.

YANKEES ......O 76 - 58

ORIOLES ......0 75 - 59

D-RAYS ..........)74 - 61

RED SOX .......o62 - 73

BLUE JAYS... 60 - 74

http://espn.go.com/mlb/standings

[isestrex]

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ONE is the loneliest number that you'll ever do.

YANKEES ......O 76 - 58

ORIOLES ......0 75 - 59

D-RAYS ..........)74 - 61

RED SOX .......o62 - 73

BLUE JAYS... 60 - 74

http://espn.go.com/mlb/standings

I know this is a thread about the whole AL East, but we can probably drop the bottom two teams out by this point It's really a 3 team race.

[OFFNY]

I know this is a thread about the whole AL East, but we can probably drop the bottom two teams out by this point It's really a 3 team race.

OOOYes, but when the thread began, it was really tight for all 5 teams. The situation has evolved into 2 teams dropping out, creating a 3-team race, but I like to include the entire standings for context on how much things have changed since then ......... and how surprising it is to many that the Orioles ARE NOT one of the 2 teams that have dropped out, and that the Red Sox ARE one of the 2 that have dropped out.

[OFFNY]

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Guess what ???

ORIOLES ......0 76 - 59

YANKEES ......O 76 - 59

D-RAYS ..........)75 - 61

RED SOX .......o62 - 74

BLUE JAYS... 60 - 75

http://espn.go.com/mlb/standings

[OFFNY]

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We WILL NOT back down.

Dan Duquette said that "it's personal," and so it is.

Oh, yeah. The Blue Jays swept their way out of last place through the Red Sox this past weekend.

ORIOLES ......0 79 - 62

YANKEES ......O 79 - 62

D-RAYS ..........)77 - 64

BLUE JAYS... 64 - 76

RED SOX .......o64 - 78

http://espn.go.com/mlb/standings

[scOtt]

This ish is getting intense!