The west coast may again experience electrical shortages, with the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics monopolizing all energy in the region. The two teams have generated the best records in baseball this season and, last week, powered themselves to the first two guaranteed playoff berths in baseball.
While the Athletics never came within striking distance of the Mariners in the AL West, they surprised baseball with a mid-summer surge and achieved momentum that has swept them into the playoffs. Oakland was 8-18 on May 1 but lost only eight more games while winning 57 since June 27. At 92-58, the A's are only second to the Mariners (106-44) for the best record in baseball.
Oakland clinched the wild card on Sunday with a 7-4 victory over Seattle, which secured the division title last Wednesday. Mark Mulder earned his 20th win and Jermaine Dye had a three-run home run to complete the three-game sweep of the Mariners. Oakland won the first two games 11-2 and 5-1.
The series was the first time the Mariners have been swept this season and also their first series loss on the road. Seattle has dropped four straight for the first time since Aug. 12-20, 2000, when it lost eight consecutive games. The Mariners must now win ten of their final 12 games to tie the Chicago Cubs' record of 116 wins in a single season.
Another record fell in the AL last week, when the New York Yankees' Roger Clemens became the first pitcher in baseball history to go 20-1, beating the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday night. Clemens is on track to win his record sixth Cy Young award and will likely get the five strikeouts he needs to tie Bert Blyleven (3,701) for third on the career strikeout list when he starts against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays tonight.
The Boston Red Sox have laid down the doormat at the entrance to Octoberland for Clemens and the Yankees, who are headed toward their fourth straight division title. New York avoided a sweep by the lowly Baltimore Orioles by the seat of its pants on Sunday when Baltimore blew a 4-0 lead and a three-RBI effort by Cal Ripken Jr. Bernie Williams drew a bases-loaded walk in the tenth inning to force in the winning run, and Mariano Rivera earned his 47th save of the season.
The win allowed New York to whittle down its magic number to two to clinch the AL East, as the Red Sox lost their second straight to Detroit, 12-6. The Yankees could shore up their playoff berth tonight when they begin a series against Tampa Bay, a ball club often mistaken for a Triple-A team.
Cleveland furthered its pursuit of the AL Central title this weekend by taking two out of three from the second-place Minnesota Twins. The Indians now have their biggest lead of the season at seven games and are 12-4 against Minnesota this season.
The Twins are having the opposite season as Oakland. After surprising baseball with a 34-17 start, Minnesota has gone 24-39 since the All-Star break. Cleveland has gained 11 games on Minnesota since the break and will face the Twins for three games next weekend for a series that in all likelihood will end the Twins' playoff hopes.
Elsewhere around the league, Alex Rodriguez provided some excitement for a team that is going nowhere this season when he broke Ernie Banks' record for most home runs by a shortstop in one season with his 48th round-tripper. The shot helped the Texas Rangers beat the Anaheim Angels 5-2 and tied Rodriguez for the franchise record for most home runs in a season.
Tampa Bay, which is in a tight battle with the Red Sox for first place in the division, won its first series in a month when it took two of three against Toronto. The Devil Rays must now win ten of their last 13 games to avoid the first 100-loss season in their four-year franchise history.
