The Phillies remain on top, but the Dodgers and Astros are making moves
By Matt Snyder
• 1 min read
Remember the 1995 California Angels?
It was a fun team. They had big names in Chuck Finley, Mark Langston, Tim Salmon, Chili Davis, Garret Anderson, Jim Edmonds, J.T. Snow and utility beast Tony Phillips. They had Troy Percival setting up for Lee Smith. They also had a 10 1/2-game lead in the AL West in August. It was 11 games as late as Aug. 9 and 10 1/2 games as late as Aug. 16.
They missed the playoffs. The Mariners stormed back to take control of the division and won it by a game. From Aug. 15 through Sept. 23, the Angels went 8-27. It was Sept. 20 when the Mariners would tie the Angels and Sept. 22 when they took first place. The Angels had blown a double-digit divisional lead in 33 games.
That was the fastest a double-digit division lead had ever been blown in the divisional era, which stretches back to 1969.
I said "was" because the 2024 Mariners just broke the record. It took only 24 games for Seattle to blow a 10-game lead to the Astros. That was Friday night. The Astros then won on Saturday to pull ahead by a game, though the Mariners salvaged Sunday's finale to pull back to within even.
The last time the Mariners held a double-digit lead in the AL West was 2001, when they won 116 games. Let's just say this iteration of the Mariners is not going to make a run at that record.
The Astros, meanwhile, have played like the best team in baseball since their 12-24 start. The defending champion Rangers have won eight of 12 and sit within striking range at five games out.
The Astros only play the Rangers and Mariners three times apiece the rest of the way. The Rangers and Mariners square off six more times. And let's keep in mind that the other two divisional foes are bad teams in the A's and Angels, though the Angels are getting Mike Trout back soon and the A's can explode in spurts.
In all, this has the makings of a three-team race despite the fact that it was the largest margin lead in a division just a few weeks ago. The Mariners channeling their inner '95 Angels paved the way.
Biggest Movers
5 Astros
6 Mets
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phillies | The offense is finally at full strength, now we just need to be sure Cristopher Sánchez and Ranger Suárez can post solid lines in the second half as workload concerns emerge. | -- | 83-56 |
| 2 | Orioles | Maybe they are back on track? Sweeping the Marlins this coming week would be a good indicator that this is true. | 2 | 81-60 |
| 3 | Dodgers | After staggering into the break, the Dodgers swept the Red Sox and now they are getting both Tyler Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw back from injury this week. | 2 | 84-56 |
| 4 | Guardians | The Guardians are now 8-13 since June 25. | 2 | 80-60 |
| 5 | Astros | I realize the rankings looks out of whack if you only look at record, but the Astros have gone 40-23 since May 8. It's time for us to throw out that awful start, even if the 'Stros can't do that in the standings. | 5 | 75-64 |
| 6 | Yankees | They looked like they might actually have some momentum, but then lost two straight to the mediocre Rays. Far too many concerns linger. | 3 | 80-60 |
| 7 | Brewers | Two wins in Minnesota to start the second half is a nice signal that they don't plan on going anywhere. They should beat up on the Cubs and Marlins this coming week, too. | -- | 81-59 |
| 8 | Braves | Add Max Fried and Ozzie Albies to their list of injuries to key players. Good lord, man. What a season. It's even more imperative now that Matt Olson start playing like it's 2023. | 2 | 76-63 |
| 9 | Royals | Excellent work by the Royals to jump out of the second-half box and take care of business against greatly inferior competition. The Mets should've been taking notes. | 3 | 76-65 |
| 10 | Twins | The Twins had a prime opportunity this week to gain some ground on the Guardians and instead lost two straight. | 2 | 75-64 |
| 11 | Red Sox | The Jarren Duran breakout season is in full effect now after his All-Star Game MVP and a monster series in L.A. He has 30 doubles, 10 triples, 12 homers and 22 stolen bases. You know what that kind of stat-sheet-stuffing reminds me of? A young Mookie Betts, though he hit for a much higher average and didn't triple as often. | 2 | 70-70 |
| 12 | Diamondbacks | The NL champs have won 12 of 18 to move into playoff position. Their rotation has been decimated by injury, but they should be getting Jordan Montgomery, Eduardo Rodríguez and Merrill Kelly back. Plus, I expect general manager Mike Hazen to be as aggressive as he can before the trade deadline. The Snakes are again a threat in the NL. | 2 | 79-61 |
| 13 | Cardinals | It was jarring to see Paul Goldschmidt sitting in the seven hole on Sunday after starting the second half 0 for 8. And hey, he hit a home run. It really does seem like he's in his decline, though, as he approaches age 37. Interestingly, maybe even coincidentally, this is the last year of his contract. | 2 | 71-69 |
| 14 | Padres | Good series win in Cleveland and now it sounds like both Fernando Tatis Jr. and Joe Musgrove are working toward returns from injury. Things are looking up! (Of course, every time this happens with the Padres, a series of bad things is right around the corner) | 2 | 80-61 |
| 15 | Mariners | At least they won Sunday, I guess. I could be wrong, but third place at this point feels more likely than first. The good news is there's still plenty of time. The '95 Angels didn't have that luxury. | 2 | 70-70 |
| 16 | Pirates | Before Sunday's loss to the Phillies -- which is perfectly forgivable -- the Pirates had won eight of nine. They are half a game back of a playoff spot. This is a legitimate playoff contender. On tap to start this next week? Three games against the Cardinals in Pittsburgh. Fill that ballpark, Yinzers. | 3 | 65-74 |
| 17 | Mets | They moved themselves into playoff position and were set to face the Marlins coming out of the break. And so far they've lost two of three (they'll play the Marlins again Monday to complete the four-game series). Are they really gonna Mets this up? | 6 | 76-64 |
| 18 | Rays | In the three games out of the break, Randy Arozarena is 6 for 13 with two doubles and three homers. He's been having the worst year of his career, but getting hot right now makes it the perfect opportunity for the Rays to trade him before he hits arbitration this coming winter -- assuming they don't hang close enough to contention to hold. | -- | 69-70 |
| 19 | Rangers | They lost their series to the Orioles, but the Orioles are great. Look at this coming week. The Rangers get four against the hapless White Sox at home before heading to Toronto for three. Time to feast if the Rangers are serious contenders again. | 2 | 67-73 |
| 20 | Tigers | As the Tigers look to remain in the playoff picture (5 1/2 out of last wild-card spot), the Reese Olson injury really hurts. I know he has a 4-8 record, but that's the product of bad help from teammates. He's been good-to-great in 15 of his 19 starts. | -- | 70-70 |
| 21 | Giants | The Giants just scored nine runs in three games in Coors Field. That's just not gonna cut it. | 1 | 68-72 |
| 22 | Cubs | A lot of good that rest did the Cubs' offense. They scored just four runs in three games combined out of the break and one of them came in extra innings via a bases-loaded walk. Pitiful. And, again, this is Jed Hoyer's fourth year. | 1 | 72-68 |
| 23 | Nationals | And just like that, the Nats are back to within four games of a playoff spot. | 2 | 62-77 |
| 24 | Reds | If you're primed for a big second half, getting swept by the Nationals is a pretty terrible way to start the supposed run. The Reds are running out of chances. | 3 | 67-73 |
| 25 | Blue Jays | George Springer remains untradeable, but he's on a hot streak. In his last 21 games, he's 29 for 77 (.377) with six doubles, a triple, seven homers and 25 RBI. Even if it's temporary, it's fun to see the Springer of old. | 1 | 67-74 |
| 26 | Athletics | So we got to see hot-shot prospect Jacob Wilson for all of one at-bat (a hit!) before he suffered a hamstring injury that landed him on the injured list. Curse the Baseball Gods on this one. | 1 | 61-79 |
| 27 | Angels | At the All-Star Game media session, Bryce Harper was asked who the best player in baseball is. He said he still thinks it's Trout when healthy. So, yeah, Trout returning, possibly this week, is a big deal, even if the Angels are irrelevant. | 1 | 58-81 |
| 28 | Rockies | Looks like Kris Bryant is coming back. The oft-injured former star went on a minor-league rehab stint over the weekend and went 5 for 5 with a home run on Sunday. | -- | 51-89 |
| 29 | Marlins | Since the start of May, Tanner Scott has only given up a run in one game. That's a span of 30 innings and 28 games with a 0.60 ERA. For which team will he be pitching come August? | -- | 52-87 |
| 30 | White Sox | This is getting serious. The White Sox are now on pace to go 43-119. That's 2003 Tigers range with an eye on the 1962 Mets. | -- | 32-109 |
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