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With the minor-league season over and our typical 8:00 AM slot suddenly open, I figured it would be worthwhile to take a quick daily look at how the playoff picture has changed in the American League on a day-to-day basis. This will be nothing fancy. Just a look at how playoff contenders did on the day, how it affected the standings and what it means for the Red Sox. I’ll consider any team within five games of a playoff spot as a postseason contender.
Scores
TB 8, BAL 3
TOR 8, NYY 1
MIN 7, DET 3
BOS 5, CIN 4
CHW 7, KC 6
HOU 3, LAA 0
OAK 4, TEX 1
SEA 3, CLE 1
Playoff Odds
| Team | Fangraphs | Baseball Prospectus |
|---|---|---|
| Team | Fangraphs | Baseball Prospectus |
| Red Sox | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| Indians | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| Astros | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| Yankees | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| Twins | 88.10% | 90.00% |
| Angels | 7.10% | 4.30% |
| Rangers | 2.30% | 3.80% |
| Royals | 1.60% | 1.10% |
| Rays | 0.40% | 0.50% |
| Mariners | 0.40% | 0.30% |
Division Odds
| Team | Fangraphs | Baseball Prospectus |
|---|---|---|
| Team | Fangraphs | Baseball Prospectus |
| Red Sox | 97.00% | 95.70% |
| Indians | 100.00% | 100% |
| Astros | 100.00% | 100% |
| Yankees | 3.00% | 4.30% |
| Twins | 0.00% | 0% |
| Angels | 0% | 0% |
| Mariners | 0% | 0% |
| Royals | 0% | 0% |
| Rangers | 0% | 0% |
Playoff Picture Update
The American League playoff race became a lot less exciting on Friday. For the Red Sox, that is a very good thing, as they went up by four games in the division and took a massive step towards making the last week of the year relatively easy. As for the wildcard race, the Twins winning and the teams trailing them losing took away a big chance for chaos. With both the Angels and Rangers took the loss on Friday pushing each down to 3.5 games back of that second wildcard spot. Meanwhile, Kansas City trails by 4.5 games while Seattle and Tampa are five games back. As for the division winners, Cleveland holds a 1.5 game lead over Houston for the top seed in the American League and Houston leads the Sox by five games for the second seed.