Heading into this weekend, several teams like the Mets and Yankees are trying to stay hot and keeping their winning streak going, while other teams like the St. Louis Cardinals are praying to end their losing streak.
Several division leaders (NY Yankees, Houston Astros, and LA Dodgers) are riding high and padding their leads with a winning streak. The sizzling Mets won 6 in a row and 9 out of their last ten games to get within striking distance of the NL Wild Card. Meanwhile, the St. Louis Cardinals are in the middle of a five-game skid and slipped to third place in the NL Central.
With less than 45 games remaining, the doldrums of August are fast approaching. This is when Wild card teams and division races heat up, while the rest of league downshifts into coasting mode for the final six weeks of the season.
WINNING STREAKS
Yankees 9 wins
Astros 6 wins
Mets 6 wins
Dodgers 5 winsLOSING STREAKS
Angels 7 losses
Cardinals 5 losses
Pirates 5 losses
The LA Angels (56-60) are in the middle of their worst losing streak of the season. Even MVP candidate Mike Trout can’t turn things around for the Angels. Trout slugged 28 home runs with 89 RBI. He’s slashing at .299/.439/.668.
If the Seattle Mariners were not so terrible, the Angels would be fighting for the basement. The Boston Red Sox need a miracle if they expect to advance to the postseason, but luckily they have three more games this weekend with the downtrodden Halos at Fenway.
NL Central Stays Crazy
We expected the NL Central would be a tight race all season. As the end of summer approaches, the El Mago and the Cubbies have a lock on first place.
The St. Louis Cardinals and the Milwaukee Brewers have been jockeying for second place. But deep down they both know that if they don’t win the division out right, them might bubble the playoffs.
NL CENTRAL RACE
Chicago Cubs 64-52
Milwaukee Brewers 60-56
St. Louis Cardinals 58-55
Cincinnati Reds 54-59
Pittsburgh Pirates 48-66
With the NY Mets surging and the Nationals and Phillies staying close, the runner-up in the NL Central might be DOA and SOL.
The Cards’ skid reached five games and counting. It’s truly an awful time for the Cardinals to go on a losing streak. Good thing for the Cards is that the last-place Pirates are coming to town. The Cardinals need a slumpbuster… badly… in order to get back on track and end their losing streak.
NYC Shines
The New York Yankees won nine-straight games and opened up a 10.5-game lead over the second-place Tampa Bay Rays. The Yanks have not held this large of a lead in ten years, or the last time the Yanks won a World Series back in 2009.
During this nine-game winning streak, the Yankees decimated the Boston Red Sox with a four-game sweep in the Bronx. The defending champion Red Sox are essentially dunzo.
The Yankees went into Camden Yards and continued to boost their home run stats against the Orioles. Things got so bad that a heated Chris Davis and Orioles manager Brandon Hyde had to be separated in the dugout with TV cameras catching their dust up.
Meanwhile, third baseman Gio Urshela is smoking hot with five home runs over the last three games. He crushed two homers in each of his last two games.
The Mets took a lot of guff with their trade deadline moves. They made a baffling trade for pitcher Marcus Stroman, but did not trade their big arms (Thor and Zack Wheeler). Looks like the Mets obviously made the right moves. The Mets squad, led by rookie Pete Alonso, embarked on a heck of a winning streak. They moved into a tie with the Phillies for third place in the NL East.
The Mets are only 1/2 game out of the Wild card right now trailing Milwaukee and the Nats. The Mets are one of three teams on the bubble (plus Cards and Phillies) and trailing by less than a game.