Playoff hopefuls move into stretch

Well, we’ve reached the point in the season when the playoff hopefuls are becoming more of a reality.

Leading the American League is: The Yankees (big surprise), the Tigers (after ending last season dead last) and the Angels (Baseball Tonight was accurate on that one) and the Boston Red Sox, with an all but untouchable wild-card record.

The Tigers, who’ve been at the top of the Central Division for the majority of this season, had an undeniably dominate rout over the Texas Rangers last night. Verlander was spot-on with his pitching, striking out thirteen, while Texas stranded thirteen runners and the Tigers offense managed thirteen runs; two of them courtesy of Granderson’s consecutive homeruns in his first two at-bats. After struggling against Texas previously, scoring only five runs combined in the first two games of the series, it’s great to see them come roaring back to remain in first by two games.

Believe it or not, I’m actually also happy to see the Yankees making a return to the playoff picture. I was originally excited to see them miss the cut to Tampa Bay last year, saying, “I’ve been waiting for this day for most of my life!” But, with nobody interesting from the Central Division to root for, and nobody to hate, it actually proved to be a slightly boring post-season. Of course, I fell in love with the Rays, only to see them fall flat against Philly in the Series.

As for the Angels, I hope for the best for them. They’ve had a year that was immediately soured due to the tragic loss of their phenomenal rookie pitcher, Rick Adenhart, in a horrible accident. In a year that the sports world as a whole has been met with an excess of emotional adversity, I’m looking forward to a happy ending.