Wednesday, August 17, 2016

American League Playoff Races

With 10 games left there are 3 spots up for grabs.  In the AL West Huntington leads Austin by 2.  In the wild card race Trenton is entrenched in the #1 spot with a 6 game lead over Montreal (Who absolutely destroys me every time we match up), and Montreal has a 1 game lead over Burlington and 5 games over Austin.

Huntington is going to have to fight  for that division.  After just running into the Boston buzz saw and loosing 3 of 4 they get to decide their own fate with with a 4 game series against the suddenly reeling Burlington and a 3 gamer versus the steady Austin squad. They finish up with the rebuilding Jackson squad that would probably take pride in knowing that they finished Huntington's season if it comes down to it.

Austin coming off a lucky 4 game split with Trenton is in the drivers seat for the West. They play a Buffalo team that is more than willing to lose after meeting the MWR, the 3 gamer with Huntington, and a cake match up with Montgomery. They have to be the odds on favorite for the division.

In the wild card race it would take a serious meltdown for Trenton not to take 1 of the 2 spots. With a 7 game lead over the 2nd spot it would take an almost perfect run to unseat them. A pedestrian 5-5 gets them a spot. The schedule isn't favorable but with Trenton's dominance over Boston this year the spot should be sealed after the 4 gamer with them.

Montreal has the easiest path to the second wild card as their schedule is not an overly hard one with 6 of the final 10 coming against teams with a losing record. Although there are rumors in the Trenton locker room about some rest coming up allowing the teams closet to the Boules some less than stellar competition. Trenton doesn't seem to want anything to do with the Boules in the playoffs.

I think it is too little too late for Burlington. Going to take a huge last 10 for them. 7 of the last 10 are against teams ahead of them in the playoff pecking order. Can't count them out when they have two at least two starts from Lara and Torrealba in the final 10.

Congrats to the Cubbies, Boston, and the Brew Crew for locking up spots already. Mixed on the Brew Crew because the division laid down this year but the Boston and Chicago squads are real.

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