The NY Yankees (84-69) are a near lock, trailing Toronto by four games in the race for a AL East title, but the “Bronx Bombers” hold a 4.5-game lead in the race for the final two playoff teams.
After New York, things get interesting as five other baseball clubs have an opportunity to play late into October. Houston (80-74) has been one of the best stories in the league, but the Astros have slipped in September, struggling to put back-to-back wins together and enter the last few days with just a half-game lead over fellow AL West rival Los Angeles (79-74).
Three straight wins from the Angles and three consecutive losses by Houston have made the race for the post season tight and with the veteran experience in Southern California, many MLB experts are now predicting Los Angeles as the team to beat over the next week.
Despite the recent hot play of the Angels, Minnesota (78-75) is also in the hunt, but the Twins are just 3-7 through their last ten games and have just three games at home over the final week of play, making them a bit of a long shot to make the post season.
A couple other franchises with an outside chance of making the playoffs are Cleveland (76-76) and Baltimore (76-77), but both of these teams will likely need to win out the 2015 season and hope for the best from the teams above them. That said, this is sports and stranger things have happened.
Pittsburgh and Chicago have locked in their spots in the National League and with the Cubs, its perhaps the best story of the year, despite their long history of not winning a World Series title.
