(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
The Los Angeles Dodgers are 10-7 since losing Manny Ramirez. They have won nine of their last 12 games and increased their first-place lead in the NL West by one game.
Not bad.
Meanwhile, things look normal in the AL East once again, with the Blue Jays dropping from first and the Red Sox and Yankees sitting one and two, respectively.
The Detroit Tigers have begun to pull away in the once-tightly packed AL Central, now four games ahead of the second-place Kansas City Royals.
However, the NL East and Central remain tightly packed at the top. Three teams are within 2.5 games in the Central and three teams sit 1.5 games away from each other at the top of the East.
Here’s how teams rank through May 25:
No. 1: Los Angeles Dodgers (31-15)—The Dodgers rank second in all of baseball in runs scored (261) and ERA (3.74). They have a comfortable 7.5-game lead in the NL West despite the second-place Padres’ 10-game winning streak. (Last Week, 1)
No. 2: Detroit Tigers (25-18)—A once-strong division has turned into mediocre at best, allowing the Tigers to pull away in the AL Central after winning eight of their last 10 games. (Last Week, 10)
No. 3: Boston Red Sox (27-19)—A three-game sweep of the Blue Jays brought Toronto back down to Earth and allowed the BoSox to take over first in the AL East. Boston is doing this without Kevin Youkilis (oblique) and with their starting pitching posting a miserable 5.31 ERA (fourth-worst in MLB). (Last Week, 6)
No. 4: New York Yankees (26-19)—The Yankees are 13-4 since A-Rod’s return. Rodriguez had seven of his first 10 hits leave the park, until a 5-for-5 performance (no HRs) Monday against the Texas Rangers raised his batting average 70 points to .259. Phil Hughes’ eight shutout innings of the league’s top-rated offense during that game may be even scarier for the rest of baseball. (Last Week, 8)
No. 5: Philadelphia Phillies (24-19)—The Phils stopped the red-hot Yankees in their tracks, taking two of three from them in New York. They have won seven of 10 and maintain a slim half-game lead ahead of the Mets for first in the NL East. (Last Week,
No. 6:
0 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete