While the vast difference between leagues has been clear since the beginning of the season, the American League East was supposed to be the exception to the extremely rigid AL division races. The National League is much more balanced with every division as well as its wildcard spots up for grabs in tight and dramatic races. The American League has clear favorites and has had their playoff picture clear for some time now. The final wildcard spot is really the only one still up for grabs, and it’s between two teams. The race for the top spot in the AL East was supposed to last all year, however. It’s way too early to say that race is over, of course, but the Red Sox are using this weekend’s series between themselves and the Yankees and doing what they can to bury New York in the divisional standings.

For the Red Sox, it’s really just been one big and consistent charge through this entire season. They’ve surely benefited from the extreme nature of the American League this year, allowing them to play subpar competition more often than not. That being said, they have the second-best record in baseball against winning teams and are playing the same AL clubs as the rest of the league. They’ve been clicking in just about every area through the entire year and have been able to get around injuries and slumps with certain areas of the roster picking up another when it’s been needed. They have the best record in baseball and are on pace for 112 wins.

The Yankees, meanwhile, have to be feeling the pressure right now. As I said, the division race isn’t over and getting back in it is obviously New York’s focus right now, but there’s also a creeping possibility that they fall out of the wildcard all together. Granted, it’s incredibly unlikely, but odds aren’t really at the forefront of the mind when you’re struggling like the Yankees are right now. At the moment, they’re closer to being out of the postseason all together than they are to leading the division. Ultimately, the Yankees are too talented to really have to worry about missing the playoffs and they’re too talented to not be competing for the division title. Unfortunately for them, the games to date are already in the bank and talent or no the Red Sox are a couple more big games this weekend away from really putting this division race to bed earlier than anyone expected.