Mid-August Report of American League Baseball Plus Wild-Card Race

After all #Major League Baseball games were played on the Saturday, August 11, 2018 schedule and the #dog days of summer have either ended or are still here, we have our usual questions to answer:

• Performance: How did the teams in the #American League #East and West do these last two weeks?
• Positions: Which team is in first place in the three American League divisions? How are the other teams in the AL East doing?
• Possibilities: How do things look regarding those four potential 100-win teams in the American League?

Performance: How did the teams in the American League East and West do during the last two full weeks of July 29-August 4 and August 5-11?

The first week began with the following AL East and other division statistics:

Team           Wins      Losses    Score on #UBWS18 Scale

Boston         73         33           +51.2

Yankees       66         37           +40.8

Tampa         53         53           +03.9

Toronto       47         56            -10.7

Baltimore    31         74           -62.1

Other          Wins     Losses     Score on UBWS18 Scale

Teams

Cleveland   56          47           +20.8

Houston      67         39           +39.2

Seattle        61          43           +29.6

Oakland     61          45           +26.2

How did the teams in the American League East do during the weeks of July 29-August 4 and August 4-11? (Games Won, Lost and UBWS18 Scale Scores):

Boston won twelve games during these two weeks, going from 73 to 85 victories. The Red Sox lost two games during these two weeks, going from 33 to 35 defeats. With Boston's two week combined score of twelve victories and two defeats, its UBWS18 score rose from +51.2 to +58.4 at the end of the second week.

The New York Yankees won eight games during these two weeks, going from 66 to 74 victories. The Yankees lost six games during these two weeks, going from 37 to 43 losses. With the New York team's combined two week statistic of eight victories and six defeats, its UBWS18 score dipped slightly from +40.8 to +40.0 to +40.8 at the end of the second week.

Tampa won seven games during these two weeks, going from 53 to 60 victories. The Rays lost five games during these two weeks, going from 53 to 58 defeats. With Tampa's combined statistic for the two weeks of seven victories and five defeats, its UBWS18 score went from +3.9 to +0.8 at the end of the second week.

Toronto won six games these past two weeks, going from 47 to 53 victories. The Blue Jays lost eight games during this two-week period, going from 56 to 64 defeats. With Toronto's combined score of six victories and eight defeats, its UBWS18 score went from -10.7 to -18.5 at the end of the second week.

Baltimore won four games during the two weeks, going from 31 to 35 victories. The Orioles lost ten games during the two weeks, going from 74 to 84 defeats. With Baltimore's combined score for the two weeks of four victories and ten defeats, its UBWS18 score dropped from -62.1 to -75.9 at the end of the second week.

Cleveland won ten games during the two weeks, going from 56 to 66 victories. The Indians lost four games during the two weeks, going from 47 to 51 defeats. With the combined two-week total of ten victories and four defeats, its UBWS18 score went from +20.8 to +24.0 at the end of the second week.

Houston won six games during the two weeks, going from 67 to 73 wins. The Astros lost seven games during the two weeks, going from 39 to 46 defeats. With the combined two-week total of six victories and seven defeats, its UBWS18 score fell from +39.2 to +35.6 at the end of the second week.

Seattle won eight games during these two weeks, going from 61 to 69 victories. The Mariners lost seven games during these two weeks, going from 43 to 50 defeats. With the combined two-week total of eight victories and seven defeats, its UBWS18 score dropped from +29.6 to +26.6 at the end of the second week.

Oakland won nine games during these two weeks, going from 61 to 70 victories. The Athletics lost three games during these two weeks, going from 45 to 48 losses. With the combined two-week total of nine victories and three defeats, its UBWS18 score rose from +26.2 to +30.8 at the end of the second week.

Statistics After August 11 Games

Team           W      L      Difference      GB of      GB of      Games      10% x 2     UBWS18

                                                            division    wild card left                              Score

                                                            leader       leader 

Boston         85     35     +50               -00           -00           42            4.2 x 2        +58.4

Yankees       74     43     +31               -09.5        -00           45            4.5 x 2        +40.0

Tampa         60     58     +02                -24.0        -10.0        44            4.4 x 2        +00.8

Toronto       53     64     -11                 -30.5        -16.5        45            4.5 x 2        --18.5

Cleveland    66     51     +15                -00            -00          45            4.5 x 2       +24.0

Houston      73     46     +27                 -00           -00          43            4.3 x 2        +35.6

Oakland     70      48     +22                 -02.5        -00          44            4.4 x 2        +30.8

(Oakland is 4.5 games behind the Yankees in the chase for the first wild-card spot.)

Seattle       69      50      +19                -04.0         -01.5       43           4.3 x 2        +26.6

Angels      59       60      -01                -14.0         -11.5        43           4.3 x 2        --03.9

                                                           Eliminated Eliminated

                                                           from           from 

                                                           division      wild-card

                                                           race            race

Baltimore  35      84      -49                E-49.5       -35.5       43           4.3 x 2        --75.9

Positions: Which team is in first place in each division of the American League? How are the other teams in the AL East doing?

In the AL East Division

Another two weeks of the 2018 season are over, and in the East Division the Boston Red Sox are still in first place, ahead of the New York Yankees. Boston has gone from being +5.5 to +9.5 games ahead of New York.

Second-place New York Yankees went from being 5.5 to 9.5 games back of Boston and is now 14.5 games ahead of Tampa.

Third-place Tampa is now 24.0 games back of Boston and 10 games back in the second wild card chase behind Oakland.

Fourth-place Toronto went from being 24.5 to 30.5 games back of Boston, and is now 16.5 games back of Oakland.

Fifth-place Baltimore went from being 41.5 to 49.0 games back of Boston, and is now 35.5 games back of Oakland.The Orioles team has been eliminated from the divisional race and soon will be eliminated from the two wild-card races.

In the AL Central Division

First-place Cleveland continues to have a comfortable lead over Minnesota in the Central Division, while second-place Minnesota continues out of contention behind Cleveland in the division and behind Oakland in the chase for the second wild card.

In the AL West Division

Houston leads Oakland by 2.5 games in the West Division.

Oakland, now in second place, is just -2.5 games back of Houston in the division and -4.5 games behind the Yankees for the first wild card spot. The Athletics are now +1.5 games ahead of Seattle for the second wild-card spot.

Seattle went from being 5.0 to 4.0 games back of Houston, and from being +1 ahead to now being -1.5 games behind Oakland for the second wild card.

Possibilities: After these last two weeks, how do things look regarding those four potential 100-win teams needing a +38 score on the UBWS18 Scale?

Boston Red Sox won twelve games these past two weeks, raising its UBWS18 score from +51.2 to +58.4.

The New York Yankees won eight games these past two weeks, slightly lowering its UBWS18 score from +40.8 to +40.0.

The Houston Astros won six games these past two weeks, lowering its UBWS18 score from +39.2 to +35.6.

The Oakland Athletics won nine games, raising its UBWS18 score from +26.2 to +30.8.

The Seattle Mariners won eight games these past two weeks, lowering its UBWS18 score from +29.6 to +26.6.

Observations:

The Red Sox and the Yankees are playing better than the minimum +38 UBWS18 score needed to win at least one hundred games this season. While Boston maintains itself comfortably above that minimum score, New York has slipped back a little bit in the last two weeks. Houston, until recently above the minimum score needed, has slipped back a little bit more in the last two weeks and is now below that minimum score needed. If these two last-mentioned teams regress any more, they risk losing not only a 100-game season but also their present position in the wild card race. While Seattle was dropping significantly in its pursuit of a 100-win season, Oakland passed it for second place in the division and in the second-wild-card race.

If the Oakland Athletics continues its Big Winning Streak, it could soon challenge New York Yankees for the first-wild-card position of the postseason playoffs. If the Athletics accelerates its Big Winning Streak, it could even have the outside possibility of becoming the fourth American League team looking for 100 victories these season. This would not be an easy task, since the team began the season very slowly in March, April and May before starting to win significantly over the last few weeks of June, July and now the first part of August.

Published by Ambrose Powell

Ambrose Powell, professor, counselor and lifelong fan of professional sports teams from the Boston area (Red Sox, Celtics and Patriots) was born and raised in the well-known New England region of the United States. He currently teaches English in Valencia, Carabobo, Venezuela but also maintains his interest in his New England professional sports teams and follows them closely from his present location. You can find him on Facebook (ambrosio.powell), Twitter (@ambropow53), and Instagram (ambrosio399) as well as on this sports blog (https://soxcelticsandpatriots.blogspot.com).