Major League Baseball (MLB) is gearing up for the final two weeks of its marathon season with a handful of Cinderella teams well placed to extend their hopes for a fairy tale finish.
The Washington Nationals, who have not had a winning season since the Montreal Expos franchise moved to Washington for the 2005 season, have the best record in the majors at 89-57 and a good grip on the NL East lead heading into Monday’s games.
The Baltimore Orioles (82-64), just a little north of the US capital up Interstate 95, are battling the New York Yankees (83-63) for the American League East title as they eyed their first postseason berth in 15 years.
On the US West Coast, the Oakland Athletics (84-62) have used a pitching staff featuring four rookie hurlers in their five-man rotation to push the Texas Rangers (87-59) in the AL West after going the last five seasons without a winning record.
More playoff berths than ever were on offer as MLB has doubled the number of wildcard teams to two in each league.
Previously, wildcard teams directly entered the best-of-five divisional round of the playoffs as the fourth team in their respective league semi-finals.
Now the two wildcard teams will play one another in a one-game showdown to join the division winners in the divisional round which produces the teams that play for the league championship and a spot in the World Series.
Avoiding that one-game, win-or-go home scenario has made winning the division a priority for contending teams and the races were all still tight in the American League.
The Yankees, struggling to score runs when their potent home run hitters turn cold, held a one-game lead over the Orioles, who showed an uncanny ability to win tight games with their impressive young starters and strong bullpen.
Baltimore, under manager Buck Showalter, have posted a remarkable 27-8 record in one-run games, along with victories in their last 13 extra-inning games.
The Chicago White Sox, playing an inspired season under rookie manager Robin Ventura, were holding off a Detroit Tigers club that had been rated favorites after adding vaunted slugger Prince Fielder in the off-season.
Chicago (80-66) padded their division lead to three games over Detroit (77-69) with a 5-4 win in on Monday in a make-up contest for last week’s rain-out.
Texas, winners of the American League pennant the last two years, were finding it hard to shake the young Athletics, who were firmly in the lead in the wildcard standings with the regular season drawing to a close on Oct. 3.
Oakland were two games ahead of Baltimore in the AL wildcard race, with the Los Angeles Angels (80-67) a surprising 2.5 games behind the Orioles for the second spot despite adding free agent slugger Albert Pujols, and Tampa Bay four games back.
The National League division races looked to be in the control of Washington in the East, the Cincinnati Reds (88-59) in the Central and the San Francisco Giants (83-63) in the West.
The Atlanta Braves (84-63) looked like a lock for the first wildcard, but a recent slump by next best St Louis Cardinals (77-70), losers of seven of 10, gave hope to the late-charging Milwaukee Brewers (74-72) and the Pittsburgh Pirates (73-72).
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two