28 Days Left: Team Futures Coalescing--Rays, Red Sox, Angels for sure in the AL; Cubs, Brewers, Dbacks in the NL

BOSTON - Two races are shaping up as serious and will go down to the wire: AL Central and NL East. In both cases, the loser goes home with no real chance for the Wild Card.

The White Sox, who my wife and I just saw get pummeled by the Red Sox at Fenway Park, 8-0 last night (to The Wife's chagrin), should end the season with a one-game lead over the Twins. The Twins are slightly over-performing, while the White Sox are basically winning at their capability, so that bodes well for the Pale Hose.

Similarly in the NL East, the Mets have opened up a big enough lead that should get them into the playoffs by two games over Philadelphia, but, similar to last year, the Phillies are significantly under-performing (OPI of -5), whereas the Mets are basically winning at their capability. That does mean that the Phillies can reel off another one of those streaks (sorry, Mets' fans)...

There are going to be some good races in the last month of the season

AL
EAST	WP	P WP	P W	P L	OPI
Tampa Bay	.617	.579	99	63	6
Boston	.582	.602	95	67	-3
NY Yankees	.537	.530	87	75	1
Toronto	.507	.559	84	78	-8
Baltimore	.470	.491	77	85	-3
CENTRAL
Chicago Sox	.567	.578	92	70	-2
Minnesota	.563	.558	91	71	1
Cleveland	.489	.525	80	82	-6
Kansas City	.418	.391	67	95	4
Detroit	.485	.504	79	83	-3
WEST
LA Angels	.612	.550	97	65	10
Texas	.485	.459	78	84	4
Oakland	.459	.471	75	87	-2
Seattle	.381	.406	62	100	-4
NL
EAST
NY Mets	.556	.559	90	72	-1
Philadelphia	.541	.571	88	74	-5
Atlanta	.437	.479	72	90	-7
Florida	.504	.477	81	81	4
Washington	.370	.371	60	102	0
CENTRAL
Chicago Cubs	.630	.648	102	60	-3
Milwaukee	.582	.561	94	68	3
St. Louis	.548	.543	89	73	1
Houston	.511	.468	82	80	7
Pittsburgh	.425	.410	68	94	2
Cincinnati	.437	.417	70	92	3
WEST
Arizona	.515	.533	84	78	-3
LA Dodgers	.481	.493	78	84	-2
Colorado	.471	.462	76	86	1
San Francisco	.440	.407	70	92	5
San Diego	.381	.401	62	100	-3