The calendar has rolled over to September as teams around Major League Baseball look to put the final stamp on a trip to the post season. Along with the teams we have also seen a large group of players get hot around the American League to help position their respective teams to fight for a chance to play baseball in October.
For now we will start with two of the hotter teams around the American League both pushing for playoff spots. The first team is the Minnesota Twins who just a few weeks back held on to one of the two wild card spots. That all changed in a blink of an eye, as the team went on a rough stretch finding the losses piling up in the MLB standings.
Fast forward to this week and the Twins have won eight of there past ten games to push their record to 69-63 for the season. This stretch of hot baseball has pushed the team into third place in the wild card standings and just a game back of the second wild card spot that is currently held by the Texas Rangers.
The second team that has been red hot over the past month is the Toronto Blue Jays who still currently hold the top spot in the American League West. The Blue Jays sit just a game and half over the New York Yankees. Currently the Blue Jays are 76-57 after there recent stretch including winning eight of there past ten games. Unfortunately for the team they could not build a big separation in the division as the Yankees have played good ball as well.
Each of those teams land on our weekly American League Winners List. Here is the rest of the Winners and Losers from around the American League as we get play underway in September.
American League Winners:
New York Yankees: Despite finding themselves in second place in the American League East the team has been one of there hotter teams in all of baseball. This includes a current stretch of going 6-4 to help stay within just one and half back of the first place Blue Jays. The team also currently sits in the first wild card position in the American League with just a few weeks remaining of the 2015 MLB Season.
Chris Davis, Baltimore Orioles: The team is struggling but the teams first baseman broke out of a slump on Wednesday against the Rays. Davis who continues to pick up big hits for the club launched his 37th and 38th home runs of the season in the teams win. The second of those home runs came in the bottom of the 11th inning crushing a ball to right center field to pick up another walk off home run during the 2015 MLB season.
Edwin Encarnacion, Toronto Blue Jays: The Blue Jays first baseman might be one of the hottest hitters in all of baseball of late. Over his last seven games, Encarnacion is hitting .391 with four home runs and 13 runs batted in. That includes going hitless in the team’s last game against the Cleveland Indians. If you look back at his last ten games, Encarnacion has seven home runs in five games with the Blue Jays picking up wins in all five games.
Yordano Ventura, Kansas City Royals: Just a few weeks back it seemed that the Royals had sent Ventura to the minors. Now the has been lights out of late allowing just four earned runs over his last five games. In that stretch, Ventura has worked a total 32 innings while lowering his earned run average from 5.29 to 4.24 picking up four wins along the way.
American League Losers:
Baltimore Orioles: While the American League East has been featured with two teams on our winners list, the Orioles find themselves on the losers list once again. This team was predicted by experts to win the division and that won’t be the case with just a few weeks remaining. It is hard to imagine with the way this ball club is playing they will reach the five hundred mark after winning just two of there last ten games. Along with the rough stretch of play the fans are aware of the list of impending free agents that include All-Star first baseman Chris Davis, catcher Matt Wieters and Wei-Yin Chen to name just a few.
Victor Martinez, Detroit Tigers: It has been a rough stretch for not only the Tigers catcher but the entire Tigers franchise. A team that has consistently made the playoffs over the past few seasons on route to not making the playoffs. That being said some of there struggles has come with inconsistent play from nearly everyone on the club outside of Miguel Cabrera. That includes Martinez who has picked up just two hits over his last 21 at bats while picking up zero extra base hits or runs batted in.
Miguel Gonzalez, Baltimore Orioles: Typically when you see a team struggling you will find a bunch of players that are having a tough time putting it together on the field. That is the case with the Orioles with a lot of the struggles coming from consistent starting pitching. One of those starters is Gonzalez who has picked up three straight losses while allowing 14 earned runs over just 14.2 innings of work.
Jeff Samardzija, Chicago White Sox: The White Sox starter is in his final year of his contract in what many experts believed would be a showcase to land a bigger deal. That hasn’t been the case this season including of late as he lost his last six outings falling to 8-11 on the season. Over his last two outings, the White Sox Starter has allowed ten earned runs over just 11.1 innings of baseball.