Key Remaining September Series That Will Decide 2014 Playoff Races
The final month of the major league season is upon us, and as we learned last season with the implementation of two wild-card berths in each league, there are more teams contending for playoff spots in September than ever before.
The first weekend is already underway, featuring several series that will impact the playoff races. And there will be meaningful meetings all the way through the final week of the season thanks to that second wild card and some tight divisional races.
Scoreboard watching should be an acquired skill in these final three-plus weeks, and we will fill your datebook with the most crucial from here on out, starting with the month’s first weekend.
St. Louis Cardinals at Milwaukee Brewers (Sept. 4-7)
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There is bad blood here, a division title possibly to be decided and a couple of clubs trending in extremely opposite directions.
This four-game series started Thursday with the Cardinals extending their winning streak to six games while extending the Brewers’ losing skid to nine. It opened up a four-game lead in the National League Central, and if the Cardinals can manage to win this series and leave town with at least a five-game lead, the drama is likely finished here.
Milwaukee has not hit or pitched consistently in the last two weeks, and without star center fielder Carlos Gomez (sprained wrist) in the lineup, the Brewers are a team in danger of not only falling out of the divisional race, but losing their grip on the second wild-card berth, for which they were tied with the Atlanta Braves entering Friday’s game.
San Francisco Giants at Detroit Tigers (Sept. 5-7)
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This is one of the few interleague series that will have a major impact, but with both clubs chasing in their respective divisions, these games have inflated importance.
The featured matchup of the three-game set comes Saturday when the lefties take the mound. Madison Bumgarner (16-9, 2.97 ERA) goes for San Francisco and David Price (13-10, 3.25) pitches for Detroit. Sunday’s game is the national game of the night with Tim Hudson (9-9, 3.08) facing Kyle Lobstein, who has posted a 3.18 ERA in three starts.
The series is especially important for the Giants since the Los Angeles Dodgers, the team they are chasing in the National League West, are hosting the lowly Arizona Diamondbacks at the same time and have stud starters Hyun-Jin Ryu (14-6, 3.18) and Zack Greinke (13-8, 2.72) pitching on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Also, the Dodgers don’t play another winning team besides the Giants for the rest of the season.
Entering the series, the Giants were 8-9 in interleague games this year following up a 6-14 effort last season. They will also be without Mike Morse, who could have provided pop in the lineup as a designated hitter without being a defensive liability in an American League park.
Kansas City Royals at Detroit Tigers (Sept. 8-10)
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This may end up being the most important series in all of baseball next week. Not only are these teams fighting for the AL Central title, but there is no assurance that the loser in the division will make the playoffs via wild card.
With the Oakland A’s possessing a firm grip on one of the spots, and the Seattle Mariners jockeying for the other, the Tigers or Royals could be shut out of October if they don’t find a way to secure the division.
The Tigers are 9-4 against the Royals and have outscored them 72-48. The teams last met in mid-July and the Tigers won three of four at Kauffman Stadium, but since winning the first three of that series to open a 7 ½-game lead in the division, the Tigers are 24-26.
Meanwhile, since July 22, the Royals are 29-12, and their pitching staff has a 2.96 ERA in those 41 games entering Friday.
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Atlanta Braves at Washington Nationals (Sept. 8-10)
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This series doesn’t have nearly the drama it would have had a month before, but since July 29 the Braves have gone 15-19 while Washington has gone 22-13. That stretch is pretty much all you need to know about how that division is wrapping up.
Still, this series can have some impact on the wild-card race, which the Braves are in the thick of, and the race for the league’s best record. The Nationals just took two of three from the Dodgers in Los Angeles and currently have the league’s best record because of it.
Oakland A’s at Seattle Mariners (Sept. 12-14)
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Assuming neither of these teams has fallen from a cliff between now and then, this series can have a significant say in the AL wild-card picture.
These teams just finished a series earlier in the week, and the Mariners won two of three with heralded prospect James Paxton (7 2/3 innings, two runs) and Felix Hernandez (eight innings, one run) dominating Oakland and beating their two best starters, Sonny Gray and Jon Lester.
Since July 30, the day before the A’s traded Yoenis Cespedes to Boston for Lester, they are 13-20 and are hitting .221/.299/.345 as a team.
Also, since the trade, they have gone from a 2 ½-game lead in the AL West to a five-game deficit and are 2-7 against the division-leading Los Angeles Angels, including being swept in a four-game series last weekend.
Los Angeles Dodgers at San Francisco Giants (Sept. 12-14)
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This is the first of two three-game series between these teams – the second starts Sept. 22 in Los Angeles – and if the final month plays out as the rest of the season has, both are going to be dogfights for the division lead.
These teams haven’t seen each other since late July when the Dodgers swept in San Francisco to take over the division lead. They have not relinquished it since, getting it up to five games, but losing nine of their previous 17 has shrunk the lead to two games entering this weekend as the Giants had won 12 of 18 through Thursday.
Seattle Mariners at Los Angeles Angels (Sept. 15-18)
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The Mariners aren’t likely to challenge for the division at this point – they face an eight-game deficit entering Friday—but this series could impact the wild-card race and possibly the division if the A’s can find a way to scoot closer to the Angels between now and then.
The Angels are 5-7 against Seattle this year, but the two haven’t seen each other since July 20. That was the first series after the All-Star break; since the start of the second half, when the Angels have gone bonkers with 27 second-half wins and 10-6 within the division.
The Mariners have 25 second-half wins entering Friday.
Toronto Blue Jays at New York Yankees (Sept. 18-21)
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Here is to guessing each of these teams can remain relevant over the next couple weeks so that this four-game series is significant enough to keep an eye on.
Neither has a chance to challenge the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East, but they have both hovered around a four-game deficit for the second wild-card spot for the last couple weeks. They have been fairly matched this season, with the Yankees winning eight of 15 games and outscoring Toronto, 66-61.
The Blue Jays finished July 1 ½ games behind the Orioles, but they completely face-planed in August. They went 9-17, and their 4.48 ERA was the third worst in the league for the month. The offense didn’t help, either. It had the worst on-base percentage in August as slugger Jose Bautista watched his OBP slide and his BABIP tank to .219.
The Yankees lost seven of nine from Aug. 9-20, but they have won nine of 14 since to stay within threatening distance of the second wild card.
Detroit Tigers at Kansas City Royals (Sept. 19-21)
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This series is self-explanatory at this point. These are the only two teams in the American League as of this weekend that project to have a division title on the line this late into the season.
The Tigers have two off days in the six days leading up to the start of this series, and the Royals have the day off right before it begins. If it is played strategically, it is possible both teams can line up their rotations so that the other gets their best in all three games.
If that is the case, this series could be all sorts of fun.
Seattle Mariners at Toronto Blue Jays (Sept. 22-25)
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Toronto won five in a row to head into this weekend and stabilize its chances for now, and if it can continue to play well, as Seattle has for most of the second half, this can turn into one of the most meaningful series of the month.
The Mariners swept the Blue Jays nearly a month ago in the midst of nine wins in 10 games, and there has hardly been a comparison in rotations since the All-Star break as Seattle’s has put up a 3.00 ERA, third best in the league, and the Jays have a 4.33 mark, 10th in the league in that time.
San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers (Sept. 22-24)
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With the Dodgers getting the Colorado Rockies to end the season and the Giants getting the San Diego Padres, this could very well be the lone head-to-head series in the final week that determines a division champion.
The Royals face the Indians, and the Angels are at Oakland and Seattle in the final week, but it’s possible none of those series have the division on the line between the two teams playing.
This one likely will.
The Dodgers will be coming off a 10-game road trip before facing the Giants—the start of that trip is in San Francisco – and don’t have a day off after Sept. 11. The Giants will be in Los Angeles to finish a nine-game trip, but they have an off day Sept. 18.
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