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Who are we rooting for tonight?


isestrex

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Busy day... just getting to this now.

Update on Series:

-The Blue Jays were pathetic and unable to take one from the Yankees making the Orioles' sweep in Seattle practically meaningless with no ground gained.

-The Red Sox were able to split the 4 game series with the Rays pushing them further and further out of contention. This weekend my be the last time I feature the Rays in these series previews. They currently sit 5.5 games behind the Orioles with only 12 games to go and the Angels ahead of them in the wild card.

-The Rangers stepped up big and won 2 of 3 from the Angels pushing them back in the Wild Card to 4.5 games now. Thankfully the Rangers still have to fight for their division against the A's.

-The Tigers refuse to die (they have won 6 of their last 9) taking 2 of 3 from the A's. The biggest news from this series is that the A's best pitcher, Brett Anderson, will miss the rest of the season with a leg injury. The A's are now tied with the Orioles for the wild card as a result (A's hold tiebreaker) and the Tigers are still only 2 games behind the White Sox for the Central.

Upcoming Series:

OAKLAND ATHLETICS @ Yankees

As I've said previously, the Wild Card means little to me. The real battle is for the division and thus I'm rooting for the A's to sweep the hot Yankees (winners of 5 straight and 7 of 8). I don't care if the A's finish with a better record than the Orioles, as long as they finish with a better record than the Yankees. Sadly, the A's look like they are fading a bit. Hopefully they can hold their own on the road.

TORONTO BLUE JAYS @ Rays

The Rays need to sweep in order to keep their playoff hopes alive. All we need is for the pathetic Blue Jays to win one of these games and I'll feel comfortable.

MINNESOTA TWINS @ Tigers

The Tigers are hot and can easily win the Central division. If the Orioles do their work and win the East, the Central winner will be matched with them in the ALDS. I want to see Chicago much more than Detroit so the Tigers need to hit a losing streak quick.

CHICAGO WHITE SOX @ Angels

This one is easy. The White Sox need to win the division and the Angels need to fall out of the race. This isn't going to be easy but a 2 out 3 from the Sox would be huge for the Orioles playoff matchups.

Sadly, all 4 of the teams I'm rooting for this weekend are visiting teams <a href="http://s1106.photobucket.com/albums/h367/isestrex/Emoticons/?action=view&current=unsure.gif" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1106.photobucket.com/albums/h367/isestrex/Emoticons/unsure.gif" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

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But that is nothing compared to winning the division. A one game playoff vs having a playoff series is a tremendous difference and disadvantage. Wouldn't you know it, the year we likely end up as the wild cArd is the year they change the friggin rules placing wild cards very much at a disadvantage.

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But that is nothing compared to winning the division. A one game playoff vs having a playoff series is a tremendous difference and disadvantage. Wouldn't you know it, the year we likely end up as the wild cArd is the year they change the friggin rules placing wild cards very much at a disadvantage.

Orioles Magic :D

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