With 20 games remaining, the Indians lead the White Sox by 8 games, the Twins by 7. Despite its below-par pitchers, the Indians have shown no reason why they will collapse down the stretch. There is, in fact, no evidence to suggest Cleveland won't play above .500 ball the rest of the way. They have gained 5 games on .500 over the last 3 weeks.

But just for argument's sake, say the Indians go 8-12 from here on out. That would give Cleveland a final record of 89-73. For the White Sox to match that, they would have to finish 16-4; the Twins would need 15-5. The slumping Twins are much more likely to go 5-15 than 15-5. And the White Sox, while hot, have never played .800 ball over a 20 game stretch this season.

Conclusion? The White Sox may make it a bit closer - say down to 5 games at the end - but they won't catch the Tribe. Unfortunately, there is no drama in any of the American League races, including the Wild Card.

Rich, you are correct of course. It could happen only because of the head to head matchups. Cleveland won today so that probably takes care of the division as Chicago needed to sweep.

The Sox needed to sweep this series, and the blew back-to-back games in the 8th and 9th innings (tied in the eighth, won in the ninth). If they had swept the series, they'd have been four back with, I think, three left to play against Cleveland. Nine back now is too far. Time to get Joe Crede 20 ML games under his belt.