Cardinals, Tigers move up Power Rankings

A couple of division races are proving to be close enough to have a chance to stretch into the final weekend of the season, but the most compelling storylines are coming out of the American League Wild Card race, where a whole mess of teams — as many as seven, as of Monday — have a realistic shot to grab one of the final two playoff spots.

Boston leads the AL Wild Card standings with a one-game lead, with the Orioles and Tigers tied for the second spot. On the outside, but closely looking in, are the Astros (two out), Yankees (3 1/2) and Royals (four), with the Mariners hanging in there with a five-game deficit.

• Power Rankings

It may be a bit too early to give the full rundown on all the tiebreaker scenarios, but it’s safe to assume there will be some very meaningful baseball played on Oct. 2 — the final day of the regular season.

Biggest jump: The magic number, it seems, is three. The Tigers jumped from 11 to eight; the Cardinals, 13 to 10 and the Mets, 17 to 14. The Cardinals’ play of late could be described as little more than adequate — in the last two weeks, they’ve lost series to the Mets, A’s and Reds while taking two of three against only the Brewers. Yet they’re near the top of the National League Wild Card standings and would be the visiting team in that game if the playoffs started today. They’re also getting healthier by the day with a rotation that is starting to come together.

Biggest drop: The Mariners dropped five spots, from 12 to 17, which shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Seattle was rolling for a while in August, but have won only four games since Aug. 22. Even …

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