Sep. 13—Five teams, two spots for the American League Wild Card Game, three weeks to settle baseball’s most competitive playoff race.
Heading into this week the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics are all separated by just three games in the standings, meaning any conceivable combination of the two could wind up facing off in the AL Wild Card Game on Oct. 5.
How did we get here? Who is best positioned down the stretch? Here’s a deep dive into the AL Wild Card race, by the numbers.
14: As in the Toronto Blue Jays have won 14 of their last 16 games, including sweeps of fellow Wild Card contenders New York and Oakland, to surge back into the Wild Card picture. The Blue Jays have shown off a flair for the dramatic too, coming from behind or taking the lead late in eight of those wins.
47: That’s how many runs the Blue Jays scored in this weekend’s series against the Orioles. That includes a four-inning stretch from the seventh of Game 2 of Saturday’s doubleheader to the third inning of Sunday’s game where the Blue Jays scored an astonishing 27 runs.
16: How many days it took the Blue Jays to erase the Yankees’ 9.5-game lead in the standings, though they had plenty of help. Since the end of their 13-game winning streak the Yankees had lost 11 of 14 entering Sunday while the Blue Jays caught fire. To put that into perspective, when the Red Sox blew their own 9.5-game lead over the Yankees between July 27 and Aug. 17, that collapse was stretched out over 23 days.
Zero: The number of times the Red Sox play the Blue Jays the rest of the season. Given how things are going that probably comes as a relief for Boston.
Six: The Red Sox have that many games remaining against teams with winning records, the fewest of the five Wild Card contenders. Oakland has the most with 13, Seattle has 10 and New York and Toronto both have nine. The Red Sox also have six games remaining against the last-place Orioles, the worst team remaining on any of the Wild Card contenders’ schedules.
Seven: How many times Seattle and Oakland face off over their last 19 games. Whichever AL West contender can take the two series will have a great chance of knocking the other out of the Wild Card race and narrowing the field to four.
Nine: The AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays will have that many more chances to play spoiler. Tampa Bay is the biggest remaining threat to Toronto’s playoff hopes, as the two clubs play six more games down the stretch, and the Rays will also play the Yankees over the final three games of the season.
Three: The Red Sox and Yankees play one last three-game series at Fenway Park from Sept. 24-26, which could have major ramifications for the playoff race. Boston has already clinched the season series with a 10-6 lead, but whichever team wins the last series will have a great chance to enjoy the last laugh.
One: That’s how many times the Red Sox and Yankees have faced off in a one-game playoff prior to this year. The last time was the famous 1978 tiebreaker best known for light-hitting Yankee Bucky Dent’s late home run, and if the two clubs finish atop the Wild Card standings this year the game could go down as yet another memorable entry in the storied rivalry’s history.
21: There’s that many days left until the end of the regular season, when this epic Wild Card race will finally reach its conclusion. Buckle up!
Email: mcerullo@northofboston.com. Twitter: @MacCerullo.