MLB Standings 2011: The way it looks today; the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, MLB Stadings 2011 leaders in the American League, will make the playoffs. What's undecided is the AL East Division winner and who gets the Wild Card. Heading into Friday's games, the Yankees lead the Red Sox in the standings by 2 1/2 games while the Red Sox have a 6 1/2 game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays in the Wild Card race. Boston has 19 games to catch the Yankees who have 18 games to clinch a share of the division title. Of six divisions in MLB baseball; this one could go to the wire.
With a 8 1/2 game lead in the AL Central, it looks like the Detroit Tigers will make the playoffs there. Only a month ago, the AL Central was a three-club battle between the Tigers, Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox. However, the Tigers have dominated both clubs in head to head competition and stretched the division lead in the process.
MLB fans get a treat over the weekend with some excellent series on tap with the Yankees on the road for three games with the LA Angels and Red Sox playing three with the Rays in Tampa Bay. From this point it doesn't appear the Rays will win the AL East or Wild Card but they can help determine who does. The same goes for the Angels, also in a fight for their lives in the AL West, currently trailing the Texas Rangers by 2 1/2 games.
Posted series odds at sports book SBGglobal.com list the Rays slight -120 odds favorites to win the series with Boston and have the Yankees lined even odds (+100) underdogs to the Angels at -120. The Texas Rangers are heavy -260 series favorites with visiting Oakland. The Detroit Tigers are -300 series favorites hosting the Twins for the weekend who are getting +220.
The story is a little different in the National League with all three division leaders out to sizeable gaps in the standings from second place challengers. The Phillies hold a double-digit (10) lead over Atlanta while Milwaukee is cruising 8-games in front of the Cardinals in the Central and Arizona has stretched its lead in the NL West to 7 1/2 over the Giants. With a 7 1/2 game lead over the Cardinals for the Wild Card, Atlanta appears to have the upper hand in that race.
The Cardinals have a chance to cut the wild card gap nearly in half with the Braves in St. Louis for a set. SBGglobal.com lists the Cardinals -140 favorites to win the series over the Braves getting +110 as underdogs. The Giants get the Dodgers for three games this weekend at AT&T Park as -155 MLB Standings 2011 series favorites.
