1. Texas Rangers (42-42) at Cleveland Guardians (44-40)
Two teams that had really good weeks face off at Progressive Field. The Rangers who still have been hot recently just swept the Toronto Blue Jays in Toronto and now with the help of their next opponent in Cleveland taking the series against Seattle the Rangers now lead the AL West. Texas will start its second three-game series vs the Guardians this season, Rangers took the first one 2-1 in Arlington earlier this month.
2. St. Louis Cardinals (43-38) at Atlanta Braves (49-33)
All of a sudden, the Atlanta Braves who were holding the best record in baseball just put up a week going (1-6). The Braves who now has seen a division lead shrink to just 3 games welcomes in a Cardinals team that has been playing the whole season along the border of the Wildcard cutline.
3. San Diego Padres (43-39) at Chicago Cubs (46-38)
What a week for the Cubs, a 6-1 roadtrip that included a big series win at Milwaukee where they saw the Brewers three best pitchers has the Cubs sitting 1.5 up in the Wildcard race and five back in the division race. The Padres on the other hand got a reality check from their big brothers in the Los Angeles Dodgers. Both begin a road trip and a homestand this week so both hope to begin it with a win.
4. Minnesota Twins (40-45) at Houston Astros (42-44)
Well things took a turn, the Twins kinda fell back to earth over the past week with a 2-4 homestand. The offense couldn’t get much in a sweep against the Dodgers and despite still taking two against the Rockies, it was an abysmal series for the bullpen who helped give up a 7-0 lead in the top of the 8th to a 8-7 deficit going into the bottom of the ninth (Twins still won behind a Royce Lewis walkoff) then they got 8 runs put up again on Saturday. Most came behind 3 home runs from Hunter Goodman. Despite all of this, the Twins still have lost little to no ground just 4.5 back in the AL Central and 2 back in the Wildcard. Houston on the other hand after a rough start has rebounded nicely and sits just 1 back in the wide open AL West and 0.5 back in the Wildcard. An interesting series for both teams at Daikin Park that could either keep both hopes alive to potentially build or decide if the loser should sell will happen.
5. Los Angeles Dodgers (54-30) at Athletics (40-44)
I will be honest, not many series this week really catch my eye but this one not only does have Postseason implications, where it is at is kinda interesting. The Dodgers big 6-1 week so far in the homestand over the Twins and Padres have allowed them to take a 10 game lead in the NL west and 2.5 lead over the Brewers for the best record in the MLB. The A’s however still are hanging around in the wild AL west just 2 behind despite being four below .500. This series could honestly go either way, at the minor league park in Sacramento. It could either be a Dodgers easy blowout or an A’s upset. Going from Target Field which had its biggest 3 crowds of the season to a huge divisional matchup at Petco now to this, it will be interesting to see what fire the Dodgers come out with.
(Note: These standings are how they sit at 4:06 pm on June 29th. For up to date standings check here.)
*my apologies, when I first made this I accidentally misread the schedule and thought the SD/CHC series was at Petco. So that has been corrected now
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