American League Week 20 Recap: Kansas City Royals’ Double Digit Lead

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The long 162 Major League Baseball season continues to roll along as teams fight for playoff position around the American League. For us this has been one of the craziest seasons we have seen in a very long time as we have only seen one team really dominate there respective division.

That team has been the Kansas City Royals who have the only double digit lead in the American League. Currently the Royals hold a 12.5 game lead over the Minnesota Twins. The same Twins we have seen turn around there season of late picking up seven wins over there last ten games while improving there record to 65-61 on the season.

Along with the ups and downs for all 15 teams around the American League we continue to see some players put together big seasons. One of those players who have been hot has been the Toronto Blue Jays first baseman/designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion.

Entering the weekend, Encarnacion is hitting .264 for the season with 26 home runs and eight runs batted in. His latest stretch includes picking up four doubles, five home runs and 15 runs batted in over his last ten games. This stretch has helped him increase his season batting average to .264 after siting at .255 for weeks.

These are just a few of the big headlines from around the American League over the past week. Here is a quick recap of each of the three American League Divisions before the calendar month flips to September.

American League East: One of those divisions that has caused this to be one of the craziest seasons has been the American League East. This division continues to play out like a roller coaster ride at your Cedar Point. The latest stretch has seen the Toronto Blue Jays play themselves to the top of the division while the New York Yankees have taken a step back into second place in the division.

This flip flop in the standings come after the Blue Jays picked up seven wins over there last ten games while the Yankees have managed to pick up just five wins in the same stretch. This stretch has the Blue Jays sitting at 71-56 while the Yankees trail them by 1.5 games at 69-57.

As we look at the Blue Jays recent success the team managed to split a two game series with the Philadelphia Phillies before picking up a three game sweep over the Los Angeles Angels. The winning continued on Tuesday and Wednesday picking up opening wins against a hot Texas Rangers team before losing the final game on Thursday.

Meanwhile the Yankees struggled to continue building on their big sweep of the Minnesota Twins last week. The Yankees dropped three of four to the Cleveland Indians over the weekend before losing two of three to the first place Houston Astros.

For us we will be keeping an eye on the top of the American League East but the question we keep asking ourselves is whether or not the Baltimore Orioles can play themselves back into the picture after losing eight of there last ten games?

American League Central: This may be the one division in baseball that we aren’t interested in watching down the stretch. Much of that is due to the fact that the Kansas City Royals have ran out to a commanding double digit lead while the Detroit Tigers continue to struggle falling to fourth place in the division.

Now that doesn’t mean this division won’t play any good ball down the stretch as we seen the Royals and Twins both pick up seven wins over their last ten. Then you have the Cleveland Indians who picked up six wins over there past ten games including taking three of four against the Yankees last week.

For the Twins and Royals their latest success has come against an American League East team that is struggling. The Twins picked up a four game sweep over the Orioles before taking two of three against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Royals on the other hand took two of four against the Boston Red Sox before taking three of four against the Orioles.

In the end this division could see two teams play themselves into the post season.

American League West: The American League West is much like the East as we continue to see a roller coaster ride. That good news is one team has been able to jump in the front car and that team is the Houston Astros who has pulled out to five game lead over the Texas Rangers while the Los Angeles Angels dropped to 5.5 games behind.

The Astros success has come against some of the better teams in all of baseball including the a three game sweep over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The team continued the success to open this week after losing game one 1-0 to the Yankees at home taking the next two games by outscoring them 21 to 3 over that stretch.

Following the Astros are the red hot Rangers who used a 7-3 record to play themselves into second place in the American League West. Good news for the Rangers comes to town on Friday as the team welcomes a Orioles team that has struggled. Prior to this weekend’s series, the Rangers lost two of three to the first place Blue Jays.

Then you have an Angels team that clawed themselves into first place entering the All-Star break but can’t seem to put it together during the second half of the 2015 MLB Season. The latest stretch includes being swept by the Blue Jays before bouncing back taking two of three against the Tigers.

Will this be the year the Astros take home the American League West crown?

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