With just 17 regular season games remaining, the Houston Astros & New York Yankees are dead even atop the American League at 95-50. Battling it out for home field advantage in the playoffs could go down to the wire.
After these next three games vs Oakland, the remainder of the Astros opponents are teams below .500:
- at Kansas City (3 games)
- vs Texas (2 games)
- vs L.A. Angels (3 games)
- at Seattle (2 games)
- at L.A. Angels (4 games)
The Yankees only play one short 2-game series vs a team above .500 (the Rays), but the rest of their schedule are all teams below .500:
- at Detroit (3 games)
- at Toronto (3 games)
- vs L.A. Angels (3 games)
- vs Toronto (3 games)
- at Tampa Bay (2 games)
- at Texas (3 games)
So for Astros fans hoping to have the best record in the American League, you very well may end up having to root for the Texas Rangers the final weekend of September as they take on the Yankees.
Would the Rangers throw a bunch of scrub players out there and purposefully tank their final games just to attempt to mess over the Astros from home field advantage? It's a sinister thought, but we can't put it past something Arlington would do.
If the Twins keep their lead on the Rays, they will be going to either Houston or New York (whoever is the 2nd seed) for the ALDS, while the Wild Card winner will visit either Houston or New York (whoever is the 1st seed).
Currently, the Rays would be the top Wild Card team and would host either the Oakland A's or Cleveland Indians in a one-game elimination Wild Card round for the rights to play the 1-seed team in the ALDS. As you can see, a lot can change over the next few weeks, and it will all likely come down to what happens in the final week of the season.