AL wild-card race looks like a mess. It could be lots of fun

The middle of the American League standings has turned into a medicore mess.

It might make for a fascinating playoff race.

There are seven teams fighting for the final AL wild-card spot and all of them have a record below .500. The Baltimore Orioles would make the playoffs if the season ended Sunday, sporting a 61-63 record.

Right behind them: The Texas Rangers (61-64), Toronto Blue Jays (61-65), Detroit Tigers (60-64), Minnesota Twins (60-65), Cleveland Guardians (60-65) and Seattle Mariners (59-66). The Houston Astros could be in the mix as well with a 63-62 record that gives them a narrow advantage in the AL West.

Many of those teams were sellers at the trade deadline this month . The Blue Jays traded outfielder Daulton Varsho to the Astros, the Orioles traded former No. 1 pick Adley Rutschman to the Red Sox and the Tigers dealt ace Tarik Skubal to the Dodgers and right-hander Casey Mize to the Padres.

Now at least one of those teams might find itself playing baseball in October anyway.

Only three teams in MLB history have made the playoffs with a losing record and all of them happened during seasons when the schedule was much shorter than normal.

The 1981 Kansas City Royals (50-53) qualified for the postseason thanks to a split-season format caused by a players' strike during the middle of the summer. In 2020, the Houston Astros and Milwaukee Brewers both squeezed into the playoff bracket with a 29-31 record during the pandemic-shortened season that had an expanded playoff field of 16 teams.

Joshua Báez became the first player to hit three home runs in his big-league debut, leading the Cardinals to an 8-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday.

Only seven players have hit even two homers in their first regular-season game in the majors since 1900. Who are they?

Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara has had a great bounce-back season with a 13-7 record and 3.43 ERA after struggling last year following Tommy John surgery that caused him to miss the 2024 season.

He's also doing what he does best — pitch deep into games.

The 2022 National League Cy Young winner has already thrown 170 2/3 innings this year, which leads the big leagues by a large margin. If he continues at this pace, he'll throw roughly 220 innings in 2026.

Throwing more than 200 innings has become increasingly rare over the past few decades as teams lean more on their bullpens. Only three pitchers reached the mark last season — Logan Webb, Garrett Crochet and Cristopher Sanchez.

Just 20 years ago in 2006, there were 45 pitchers who hit 200 innings.

If Alcantara manages to make it to 220 this season, that will be most in the big leagues since — Sandy Alcantara. He threw 228 2/3 innings during 2022 when he won the Cy Young.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are the two-time defending World Series champs and one of the favorites to win the title again this season.

They sure aren't playing like these days.

Los Angeles is 5-11 in its past 16 games, having been swept by the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs and losing series to the Arizona Diamondbacks and Milwaukee Brewers in that span. Since July 1, the Dodgers are 18-21.

“I say this because it’s just been four or five, six weeks of below average production in our offense. It’s just the truth, and I think we have just haven’t played clean baseball for quite some time, and that speaks to the defense,” manager Dave Roberts said.

The Dodgers have a chance to gain some momentum this week with three games against the Colorado Rockies and three more against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Rockies are in last place in the NL West while the Pirates have fallen to 61-65 after a promising start to the season.

Jose Fernandez (D-backs, 2026), Chase DeLauter (Guardians, 2026), Trevor Story (Rockies, 2016), J.P. Arencibia (Blue Jays, 2010), Mark Quinn (Royals, 1999), Bert Campaneris (Kansas City Athletics, 1964), Bob Nieman (Browns, 1951)

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb