On the Wild Cards

In the AL, Tampa Bay and Texas are tied, with Cleveland 0.5 back, Baltimore 2.5, New York 3, and Kansas City 3.5. The Rangers open a four-game series at Tampa Bay tonight. It's hard to see both of those teams holding on to the lead once the series is over, isn't it? Cleveland's got three against Kansas City starting tonight, the Orioles have three in Boston and the Yankees three in Toronto starting tomorrow. 

In the NL, the Nationals are 4.5 behind the Reds for the last wild card. That would seem to be a tough gap, but over the past 30 days, the Nationals are 20-8, the best record in the NL, while the Reds are 15-13. And the Reds do silly things like blow a 5-1 lead against the Brewers without bringing in their best reliever, Aroldis Chapman. Yes, I know, he pitched an inning and a third the night before, throwing 28 pitches, but that was also his first appearance in six days. The Reds are on the road this week, with three at New York and then three at Pittsburgh, while the Nats host the Braves for three and the Marlins for four. It's hard to see the Reds blowing a 4.5 game lead, but I'll bet you the Nationals make it interesting.