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How do you dramatically improve your chances of making the playoffs? Simple. You walk off from a massive 18 inning game using almost your entire bullpen and one of your starters, then you win on the back of a near complete game by one of your pitching studs, then you win despite starting a pitcher with only one career appearance above double-A, then you win yet another walk-off, this time with a pinch hit home run. All against a playoff-dreaming rival.
With six games to go, the playoff hunt has essentially become a three team race. The Rays will play the Yankees and the Blue Jays, while Cleveland gets Chicago and Toronto, and Texas faces Houston and Los Angeles of Anaheim.
| Wins | Losses | Games Back | |
| Rays | 4 | 0 | +1 |
| Indians | 3 | 0 | - |
| Rangers | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Royals | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Yankees | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Orioles | 0 | 4 | 5 |
Yes, both Texas and Cleveland have a marginally easier schedule, but it's better to be two games ahead than two games behind but playing a bad team. Here's where the wildcard odds now stand, according to FanGraphs playoff odds and Baseball Prospectus's Pecota' playoff odds.
| Sept. 9 | Sept. 13 | Sept. 16 | Sept. 20 | Sept. 24 | |
| Coin flip | 52.5% | 50.1% | 60.1% | 62.0% | 90.9% |
| Season to-date | 48.6% | 45.8% | 52.6% | 49.3% | 82.2% |
| FanGraphs | 61.4% | 63.9% | 61.8% | 65.2% | 90.7% |
| Pecota | 67.2% | 62.8% | 78.6% | 70.0% | 90.1% |
I'll take that. Now sweep the Yankees.
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