Standings Update: 8/16/14

Aug 15, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Indians left fielder Mike Aviles (4) celebrates with the rest of the Cleveland Indians after hitting a game wining home run during the eleventh inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Progressive Field. The Indians won 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Exciting Victory Helps Indians Keep Pace

Friday’s exciting 2-1 victory over the Orioles was another great moment for the 2014 Indians. Unfortunately, Mike Aviles‘ walk-off home run couldn’t help the Indians gain any ground in either the AL Central or Wild Card standings.

That’s because all of the teams currently ahead of them in the standings, at least the ones leading the way, were victorious on Friday night. It should be worth noting that the Mariners and Tigers squared off against each other so somebody had to lose. Let’s begin our recap rundown there.

The Mariners beat up Rick Porcello and the Tigers, 7-2. Rick Porcello allowed 6 runs on 10 hits over the course of 6 innings of work. One of those hits was a solo home run off the bat of Robinson Cano. Seattle starter James Paxton also went six innings, but unlike Porcello only allowed one run to cross the plate. With the victory, the M’s to over sole possession of the second Wild Card spot, while the Tigers fell behind in both races because…

The Royals just can’t stop winning. Friday night was more of the same as they topped the Twin 6-5 behind Danny Duffy. A three run double in the fourth from former Twin Josh Willingham and a two run triple from Alcides Excobar were the bulk of the offense for the red-hot Royals. They increased their lead to 1.5 games in the central and still own a better record than any of the teams competing for the second wild card spot because…

Both the Yankees and Blue Jays suffered setbacks in their attempt to keep pace. The Yankees were shut out by the Tampa Bay Rays, a team that also has life in the wild card standings, 5-0. Alex Cobb threw 7.1 spectacular innings as the Rays became the fourth team to ever get back to .500 after falling 18 games under that mark to start the season. Meanwhile in Chicago…

The Blue Jays were bludgeoned by the White Sox. Jays’ starter Marcus Stroman failed to get out of the first inning. The top five in the White Sox lineup went 12-21 with 8 RBI and 8 runs scored. The game stayed surprisingly close as the Jays were able to put runs on the board early. A five run fifth did them in their 11-5 loss.

All of these series will continue today. A complete list of the standings can be found below.