The Home Stretch

The Tribe (currently 7.5 games out in the Central, 1 game out of the wild card - behind Oak/Ana and the Yankees):

Games remaining: 29
Home games remaining: 16
Road games remaining: 13
Games against winning teams: 15
Games outside division: 6
Days off: 4
(Note: Cleveland's scheduled game with Detroit on Tuesday was rained out and has yet to be rescheduled.)
Toughest road trip: Sept. 19-25, 3 at CHI, 4 at KCKey series: Sept. 12-14, 3 with OAK

Comment: The division is still in play, especially with two series remaining against the White Sox. But the Indians' best ticket to the postseason might be the wild card. If they can hold their own against the White Sox, beat up on the losing teams within their division (Detroit, Kansas City) and take advantage of another series with Tampa Bay, they could slip in.

...whereas the Pale Ho's:

Games remaining: 30
Home games remaining: 16
Road games remaining: 14
Games against winning teams: 17
Games outside division: 4
Days off: 2
Toughest road trip: Sept. 26-Oct. 2, 4 at DET, 3 at CLE
Key series: Sept. 19-21, 3 with CLE

Comment: Even with a poor August, the White Sox have the biggest lead of a first-place team. But two series with the Indians -- including the last one of the season in Cleveland -- will make the final month interesting. Ideally, the White Sox would like to wrap up the Central crown in mid-September to rest some regulars and get their pitching in order for the playoffs.

The A's:

Comment: The A's have a challenging schedule, playing every contender except Chicago in the final month. Their season likely will be determined by how they fare in their 10-game road swing in the middle of the month. If they can survive that, 10 of their final 13 are at home.

The Angels:

Comment: Like their division rivals, the Angels face a challenging three-city trip. Given the closeness of the race in the West, their season might well come down to a four-game set with the A's in the final week. Unfortunately for the Angels, that one is in Oakland.

The Sox:

Comment: The best home team in baseball has the most home games left of any AL contender. But, balancing things out, the Sox also play more games against teams with winning records. It will be interesting to see how the demands of the schedule affect this veteran team. Thanks to a makeup game with the White Sox on Labor Day, they have just one off day in the final six weeks.

Yanks:

Comment: The Yankees have two series remaining with the Red Sox to try to close the gap in the AL East and a huge series with Oakland this weekend. They'll need to play better on the road than they have most of the season to keep their postseason streak alive. It would help if they could figure out a way to beat Tampa Bay, too, since they have six games remaining with the Rays.