The first half of the 2015 American League season has given the fans some great baseball so far especially with a few exciting teams leading their divisions.
There are tight races all around the league without any one team dominating, with even all the remaining teams in the Wild Card hunt.
The second half should be one for the ages.
AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST
As of July 5th, the New York Yankees (44-38) have a slim lead (1 game) over the second place Baltimore Orioles (43-39). But that was not the case for the most part of the first half. The Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays (43-41) have played seesaw with the top spot until the Rays recent decline. In their last 10 games they are 2-8, which toppled them out of the lead. The Toronto Blue Jays (43-41) at one point won 11 straight games which turned them into a .500 team, but recently have been on a slide, but along with the Rays, they still only trail the Yankees by two games. Rounding out the bottom of the Division, the Boston Red Sox, even with their revamped line-up, are 39-45, and have not had much success thus far this season. But they are playing better baseball and are 7-3 in their last ten games.
AMERICAN LEAGUE CENTRAL
The central division has seen a few teams in the top spot even though the Kansas City Royals (44-32) have held the lead for a good portion of the season. They also look to be the team to beat as they continue to play solid baseball. The Minnesota Twins (43-39) started to play better baseball once the calendar rolled over into May and even though they cooled off a bit in June, they continue to trail the first place Royals by 4.5 games. The Detroit Tigers have had a bumpy season, at 41-40 they haven’t put together a good run. They finished April at 15-8, but were only 28-24 after two months into the season. Now they find themselves six games behind the Royals and on a 4-6 slide. The Cleveland Indians (38-43) have played under .500 baseball for most of the first half, along with the Chicago White Sox (36-43) who both look to continue to struggle at the bottom of the division.
AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST
Look what we have here, the Houston Astros (48-36) are in first place on July 6th, and lead the LA Angles (44-38) by three games. A seven game losing streak in early June allowed the rest of the division to gain some ground, but the Astros were able to regroup and finish the month strong. The Angles are on a tear, having won eight of their last ten games and playing better baseball. They are still a game under .500 on the road, but have won 25 games at home only second in their division to the Astros who lead the American League with 28 wins at home. The Texas Rangers (41-42) turned around their slow start with a 18-11 May, after ending April at 7-14. In June they stumbled again going just 14-13, and heading into the break trail the Astros by 6.5 games. The Seattle mariners (38-44) and the Oakland A’s (38-47) round out the bottom of the division, with both teams struggling looking for a better second half.
Next up the National League…..
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