Another month of the baseball season has ended so it’s time for my fourth update of the season.
TEAM OF THE MONTH: The Los Angeles Angels win this award easily, finishing with a 19-6 record in July to improve their best-record-in-baseball mark to 68-40, good enough for a 12-game lead in the A.L. West. The Angels have a four-game lead for best record in the AL, which would mean home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, including the World Series, since the AL won the All-Star Game again.
Other candidates: New York Mets 18-8, Colorado Rockies 17-10, Los Angeles Dodgers 16-10.
WORST TEAM OF THE MONTH: Another runaway winner, the Washington Nationals. Washington, which was 33-51 heading into the month, added to its woes with a 5-19 mark in July. Things are so bad in the capital that the Nationals dumped veteran catcher Paul LoDuca today as well as shortstop Felipe Lopez.
Other candidates: Oakland A’s 8-17, San Francisco Giants 8-16, San Diego Padres 9-16.
Pennant race report
AL EAST: The surprise Tampa Bay Rays remain in first place but go just 13-12 in July. Another month like that and they might lose their 3-game lead on second-place Boston. The Red Sox were just 11-13 in July. The Yankees had another hot month, going 15-10 and are now 31-22 in the last two months. They are only 4 ½ games behind the Rays and closing in on Boston for what could be a wild-card spot.
AL CENTRAL: The Chicago White Sox have a half-game lead on the Minnesota Twins. The White Sox were 13-12 in July while the Twins went 15-10. Pre-season favorite Detroit appeared back on track after going 20-8 in June, but the Tigers were only 13-13 in August.
AL WEST: Only way Angels don’t win is if they bring Gene Mauch back from the dead to lead them on a historic collapse.
NL EAST: The closest race in baseball right now. The Phillies have a one-game lead on the Mets and just a 1 ½ game lead on the Florida Marlins. The Mets were only 40-42 heading into July, but an 18-8 month has them back in the race.
NL CENTRAL: The Cubs just swept a four-game series at Milwaukee to build a five-game lead on both the Brewers and Cardinals. Prior to that series Milwaukee had been one of the best teams in July, but finish the month 16-11. The Cubs went 15-11 while the Cardinals staggered to a 13-14 record.
NL WEST: A two-team race, for now, but don’t count out defending league champion Colorado, which went 17-10 in July after posting a 32-51 record the first three months of the season. After going 22-33 combined in May and June, the Diamonbacks rebounded to go 14-11 in July and have a two-game lead on the Dodgers. The Rockies are eight games back.
See you on Sept. 1!
