June 04, 2005
Third Inning Rocky but Still Competitive
Last night's win against the Angels marked the end of the third 18-game inning of the 2005 baseball season.
The Redsox struggled in this third 18-game stretch of the season, winning only 8 times. But oddly, so did all the teams in the AL East.
In spite of beginning the inning in the midsts of an impressive winning streak, the Yankees only won 10 games. They remain in the lower half of the division standings.
Baltimore retains the division lead, but is starting to show signs of faltering, with only 9 wins, after 11 and 12 in the first two.
Starting this inning, I've added the current Wildcard contenders to the stats.
As we all know, Chicago and Minnesota are having a great season so far. The Whitesox won 14 and 13 in the first two, then they also faltered a bit in the third with only 9 wins. Minnesota won 10 and 11, and now have 11 wins in the third, with one game left to play.
The sportstalkradio consensus seems to be that the Whitesox will remain strong and likely win the Central. And that Minnesota will hang in to present a real challenge the the AL East's tradition of winning the wildcard.
(Second Inning results)
At the end of the third the standings are (check back tomorrow for the complete inning totals for Minnesota and Texas):
AL EAST STANDINGS
After 54 games each.
W L GB
BALTIMORE 32 22 -
BOSTON 30 24 2
TORONTO 28 26 4
NY YANKEES 27 27 5
TAMPA BAY 19 35 13
CENTRAL DIV
CHI WH SOX 36 18
MINNESOTA *32 21
WEST DIV
TEXAS *30 23
LA ANGELS 31 23
1 2 3
= = =
BOSTON 10 12 8
NY YANKEES 7 10 10
BALTIMORE 11 12 9
TORONTO 9 10 9
TAMPA BAY 8 5 6
CHI WH SOX 14 13 9
MINNESOTA 10 11 *11
TEXAS 9 10 *11
LA ANGELS 10 10 11
* Inning not complete