The Standings, 9/24/07 Update

The Divisions

AL East
Red Sox ~ 92-64 ~ --
Yankees ~ 90-65 ~ 1.5 (6)
Blue Jays ~ 78-77 ~ 13.5 (E)
Orioles ~ 66-89 ~ 25.5 (E)
Devil Rays ~ 64-92 ~ 28.0 (E)

AL Central
Indians ~ 92-63 ~ --
Tigers ~ 85-71 ~ 7.5 (E)
Twins ~ 76-79 ~ 16.0 (E)
Royals ~ 68-88 ~ 24.5 (E)
White Sox ~ 67-88 ~ 25.0 (E)

AL West
Angels ~ 92-64 ~ --
Mariners ~ 83-72 ~ 8.5 (E)
Athletics ~ 75-82 ~ 17.5 (E)
Rangers ~ 72-84 ~ 20.0 (E)

Thoughts: Bad week for the Red Sox, who struggled against Toronto and Tampa Bay. Excellent week for the Yankees, who won five games and only lost one since last Monday. Boston's lead in the AL East shrank from 4.5 games last week to 1.5 this week. The Red Sox have assured themselves of a playoff spot, which the Yankees - while close - have yet to do. But the division is still up for grabs. The question is, once the Yankes have clinched a playoff spot, whether Joe Torre will push for the division or choose to rest his guys and save up for the playoffs. Every indication seems to be for the latter ... The Indians officially put away the Tigers and clinched the AL Central title. Their sweep of Detroit last week certainly helped. ... The Angels also put away their division, eliminating the Mariners from contention. ... It is a dead heat for the best record in baseball at this point. The Indians lead the Red Sox and Angels by half a game. Were the playoffs to begin today, the Indians would take on the Wild Card Yankees while the Red Sox hosted the Angels.

NL East:
Mets ~ 87-68 ~ --
Phillies ~ 85-71 ~ 2.5 (5)
Braves ~ 82-74 ~ 5.5 (2)
Nationals ~ 69-87 ~ 18.5 (E)
Marlins ~ 66-90 ~ 21.5 (E)

NL Central:
Cubs ~ 83-73 ~ --
Brewers ~ 79-76 ~ 3.5 (4)
Cardinals ~ 73-82 ~ 9.5 (E)
Reds ~ 71-85 ~ 12.0 (E)
Astros ~ 68-88 ~ 15.0 (E)
Pirates ~ 66-90 ~ 17.0 (E)

NL West:
Diamondbacks ~ 88-68 ~ --
Padres ~ 85-70 ~ 2.5 (5)
Rockies ~ 84-72 ~ 4.0 (3)
Dodgers ~ 80-76 ~ 8.0 (E)
Giants ~ 69-87 ~ 19.0 (E)

Thoughts: Considering how sweaty it became for the Mets in the middle of last week, that their lead holds at 2.5 games (one game under last week) is a sigh of relief. The Braves have surged lately and picked up two games in the standings, but it seems to be too little too late. ... Excellent week for the Cubs, and a terrible week for the Brewers. The Brewers fell from just 1.0 game back last week to 3.5 back after a tough series in Atlanta. The Cardinals have officially been eliminated from contention. ... The Padres' win streak was decimated by the Rockies, who swept the series at Petco. All things considered, the Padres could be in worse shape. The dropped a half-game to stand 2.5 back of the Diamondbacks. But they're running out of time. ... If the playoffs began today, the Diamondbacks would host the Cubs as the Mets hosted the Wild Card Padres.

The Wild Cards

American League
Yankees ~ 90-65 ~ --
Tigers ~ 85-71 ~ 5.5 (2)
Mariners ~ 83-72 ~ 7.0 (1)
Blue Jays ~ 78-77 ~ 12.0 (E)
Twins ~ 76-79 ~ 14.0 (E)

Thoughts: The Yankees had the week that they needed to have, and the Tigers had the week they couldn't afford to have. While the Yankees were sweeping the Orioles in the Bronx, the Tigers were being swept by the Indians in Cleveland. What was once a 2.5 game lead in the Wild Card has grown to a 2.5 game lead. ... Only three teams remain in the race for the Wild Card.

National League
Padres ~ 85-70 ~ --
Phillies ~ 85-71 ~ 0.5 (7)
Rockies ~ 84-72 ~ 1.5 (6)
Braves ~ 82-74 ~ 3.5 (4)
Dodgers ~ 80-76 ~ 5.5 (2)

Thoughts: Given the awful weekend the Padres had against the Rockies, they're lucky to be hanging on by a thread in the Wild Card. A 1.5 game lead shrank to a half-game over the weekend. The Padres will need to scrape and claw for every game they can get this week. ... With a series sweep of the Padres, the unlikely Rockies leapfrogged the swooning division rival Dodgers and moved from a 4.5 game deficit to one of only 1.5 games in the Wild Card. ... The Braves are better off today than they were a week ago, when they didn't even rank in the top five Wild Card contenders. But with the Rockies on an 8-game winning streak and the Phillies playing like they are, the Braves will have to come close to running the table if they have any shot at the postseason.

Key series of the week:
Nationals @ Mets (Mon-Wed)
Padres @ Giants (Mon-Wed)
Braves @ Phillies (Tue-Thu)
Rockies @ Dodgers (Tue-Thu)
Padres @ Brewers (Thu-Sun)
Nationals @ Phillies (Fri-Sun)
Marlins @ Mets (Fri-Sun)
Diamondbacks @ Rockies (Fri-Sun)

Enjoy your final week of the regular season! October is just around the corner.