AL East divisional Roundup

American League East

Team	Wins	Losses	Games Back	Last 10
Baltimore	32	23	--	6-4
Boston	33	24	--	4-6
Toronto	31	27	2.5	8-2
New York	26	30	6.5	4-6
Tampa Bay	25	30	7	4-6

We are approximately 1/3rd of the way through the regular season, so it seems like a good time to take a step back from just the Red Sox and get a broader look at the division. It also helps that, with the exception of the Rays, these teams have been playing each other for the last 10-14 days, so we have a decent idea of how they stack up head-to-head at the moment. 

As you can see from the table above, the Toronto Blue Jays have been loving their interdivisional games recently, as they are 9-3 in the past 12 games, all against the Red Sox and Yankees. They just finished taking two out of three from the Red Sox in Fenway, no easy feat considering how well Boston has played at home this year. Their offense has certainly woken up recently, scoring at least 5 runs in 6 of their 12 division games. Most experts predicted the Blue Jays would win this division for a second straight year, and they certainly have the power packed offense to do the trick. While they had a horrible start to the season, they certainly appear to be right back on track, and will make this division a three-way battle into September. 

Meanwhile, the Yankees continue to struggle in what has been a down season for them. In their 12 division games over the past two weeks, they are just 4-8, with two of those wins coming against the cellar-dwelling Rays. New York continues to struggle offensively, which is a very unfamiliar feeling for the Evil Empire. These recent struggles are not wholly unexpected considering the roster moves the Yankees have made in this century; they are in the process of trying to get younger and cheaper, but for the moment still have aging, overpriced and underproducing stars like Mark Texeira, Alex Rodriguez, and Brian McCann clogging up their roster. While their shiny trio of bullpen guys who throw 100 MPH has been as good as advertised, it doesn't mean much when there isn't a lead to protect. The Yankees will be very interesting around the trade deadline, as they will either try to add offense for a quick fix, or try to sell off some of their valuable bullpen assets to build for the future. 

In Baltimore, the Orioles continue to find ways to win despite having a run differential far inferior to that of the Red Sox. Manager Buck Showalter is a genius at winning close games, and is one of the top two or three skippers in all of baseball. He led them to 2 close wins in 3 close games over the weekend against the Yankees, after splitting a four game set with Boston that was overflowing with offense. While I think the Red Sox are a more experienced and more talented team, I fully expect the Orioles to compete for this division right down to the wire. 

Finally, let's talk about the frustrating last couple weeks for the Red Sox. After blowing very winnable games in Toronto to start this stretch against the division, Boston looked to have righted the ship with two convincing wins to start the series with Baltimore. However, the entire pitching staff melted down over the next two games, resulting in games that roughly resembled this

On Wednesday, the Sox hit 5 home runs and lost by 4. Yep, you read that right. Joe Kelly got lit up for 7 runs in less than 3 innings, and then long reliever extraordinaire Clay Buccholz allowed 4 more in 3 innings of work. After consecutive bed-shittings from Kelly, Boston sent him back down to the minors to work on not getting shelled, which opens up a spot in the rotation. This is a problem, because it means John Farrell has the choice of starting either Clay Fuckholz or a minor league call-up every fifth day. Neither option is particularly appealing. 

On Thursday, Boston was actually tied with Baltimore, 5-5, going into the 7th inning. Unfortunately, the bullpen continued to struggle by allowing 7 runs over the following three innings, mostly by way of the long ball. The Orioles hit SEVEN home runs in this game, and that pretty much always leads to victory. 

The disappointing end to the Baltimore series overshadowed the success of one Mookie Betts, who hit 5 home runs in 7 at-bats over two games on Tuesday and Wednesday. That ties the major league record for most home runs in a a two game span, so its a significant accomplishment. Its also another sign that Betts is continuing to heat up, which is huge considering the recent offensive struggles of Hanley Ramirez and Jackie Bradley Jr. 

On Friday, the Red Sox simply couldn't hit R.A Dickey and his knuckleball, wasting a quality effort from David Price in the process. They won on Saturday behind a strong day from the top of the order (batters 1-4 were 7-15), but in the series finale were no-hit through seven innings by Marco Estrada. They found their swings late, scoring 4 times in the 8th and 9th innings, but fell just short of a massive comeback when pinch hitter Marco Hernandez struck out with men at first and second to end the game. 

The Sox go on the road this week, heading to San Franciso for a quick two gamer with the Giants, then on to Minnesota for three with the Twins. I will be back tomorrow to preview both series, as well as some more of my thoughts on the team. Go Sox!