American League West Does Something We Haven't Seen in More than 40 Years as September Hits
As the calendar gets set to flip to September, the American League West is making history.
Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com:
the top 3 teams in the AL West are all separated by a game or fewer (all off tmr!)
this is the 3rd time since divisions began in 1969 that 3 teams in the same division were within a game or fewer of the lead entering Sept, joining the 1980 NLE and 1969 NLW
It should be quite an end to the season, which of these three teams playing each other numerous times down the stretch as well.
The Mariners are incredibly hot, having won 21 games in August, but they still have questions. Can the lineup, which was cold most of the season, stay awake as the temperatures dip? How bad is this weird Julio Rodriguez foot injury? Can the young pitching hold up and carry a workload it's never needed to before?
As for the Rangers, questions remain about their bullpen, especially after Aroldis Chapman hit DJ Stewart to lose the game against the Mets on Wednesday. Can Nathan Eovaldi come back into the rotation after injury and be the All-Star he was in the first half?
Lastly, the Astros: They are the defending champions and certainly have experience, but what about their pitching? They've added Justin Verlander but Framber Valdez has struggled and the team also is relying on a rookie in JP France.
The teams are all back in action on Friday with the Mariners playing the Mets, the Astros hosting the Yankees and the Rangers hosting the Twins.
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