The season is just a week old, but it's not too late to start thinking about divisional races and the wild card, is it? Here's the standings after the season's first week. Let's look at how each division is faring so far.
Six games into the 2011 season and the NL Central race is already on its ear. Cincinnati won its first five games, but lost Thursday to drop to 5-1. That's good enough for a 1 1/2 game lead over the second-place Pittsburgh Pirates, who lost to Colorado Thursday, dropping to 4-3.
Both the Cubs and the Cardinals were off Thursday, which was a blessing for Chicago, as they managed to hold onto third place at 3-3. After being swept by the Reds to open the season, Milwaukee took three of four from the Braves to hold sole possession of fourth place at 3-4. St. Louis has been without star slugger Matt Holliday, who missed time due to an emergency appendectomy, but the Cards are still in fifth place at 2-4.
Finally, the hapless Astros broke their scoreless drought to open the season, beating the Reds to move within a game of St. Louis for fifth place at 1-5.
In the NL East, the prohibitive favorite Philadelphia Phillies got a big 11-0 victory over the Mets to tie the Reds for the best record in the National League at 5-1. Two other teams sit at 3-3 as the Florida Marlins and the New York Mets share second place with the Atlanta Braves a half game back at 3-4. The Washington Nationals sit just behind those three at 2-4.
The NL West looks like it could be a dogfight all season again. The reigning World Series champion San Francisco Giants lost three of four to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Opening Weekend, but rebounded to split a two-game set with the San Diego Padres. The Giants are still in last place in the division at 2-4. The Colorado Rockies have jumped out to an early 4-1 record and currently lead the division. San Diego sits in second place at 3-2 while the Dodgers are a half-game behind at 3-3. Arizona is tied with San Francisco at 2-4.
On the American League side, the Texas Rangers may have lost the World Series last season and then lost ace Cliff Lee to the Phillies, but they're sitting with the best record in the majors at 6-0 heading into Friday's matchup with the surprising Orioles. Texas has swept both the Boston Red Sox and the Seattle Mariners to begin the season and holds a three-game lead over the second place Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (3-3). Oakland got a come-from-behind victory for their own ace Trevor Cahill on Thursday to tie Seattle at 2-4 for third place in the division.
One of the league's laughingstocks for the past couple of seasons, the Kansas City Royals are enjoying the view from the top of the AL Central, as they've gone 4-2 to open the season. They're currently tied with Chicago, after the White Sox got a 5-1 victory over Tampa Bay on Thursday. The Cleveland Indians have also struggled recently, but also joined the fray of Central leaders after a 1-0 victory over Boston jumped them up to 4-2 this season.
Last season's divisional champs, the Minnesota Twins have gotten off to a rough start without slugger Justin Morneau, falling to last place at 2-4. Six of the Twins regulars were batting at or under .200 heading into Friday's action. They also lost starting second baseman and Japanese import Tsuyoshi Nishioka to a broken fibula Thursday, further hurting a struggling offense. The Twins are joined in the Central's basement by the Detroit Tigers, who fell to 2-4 with a loss to the Orioles Thursday.
Those same Orioles have shocked the normal hierarchy of the AL East by taking first place at 5-1. The Toronto Blue Jays sit a game off the lead at 4-2 and are now tied with the perennial powerhouse New York Yankees. At the bottom of this division lie the only two teams in the majors without a victory. Both the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays sit at 0-6. Tampa Bay was swept by Baltimore in a three game series and the Angels in a two-game series while Boston has been swept by Texas and Cleveland.
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