Standings Update: 8/18/14

Aug 17, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Indians center fielder Michael Bourn (24) leaps at the wall on a home run by Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jonathan Schoop (not pictured) in the ninth inning at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Indians Drop Series Finale and a Game in the Standings

After winning the first two games of their series against the Orioles on Friday and Saturday, the Indians dropped the finale on Sunday afternoon by a score of 4-1. Danny Salazar took the loss after throwing five uninspired innings. More importantly, the loss was a major blow to the Indians push for a playoff spot. After working so hard to gain ground to start the weekend, the Tribe saw themselves fall back in the standings…

Because the Royals hung a 12 spot on the Twins Sunday afternoon at Target field. Home runs from Josh Willingham, Alex Gordon, and Salvador Perez paved the way for Jeremy Guthrie‘s ninth victory of the season. With the victory, the Royals pushed their lead over the Indians back to 6 games. They also gained separation on the struggling Tigers…

After the Mariners handed them a thorough 8-1 butt kicking. The Mariners, behind the efforts of starter Chris Young, who through six shutout innings, and three RBI from all-star third baseman Kyle Seager, now find themselves back ahead of the Tigers by a half game in the AL Wild Card standings. They are also five games ahead of the Tribe, but…

The Yankees and Blue Jays are not far behind, just 3.5 and 4 games respectively. The Yankees defeated the Rays for the second straight day to keep pace with the AL Wild Card leaders. Hiroki Kuroda pitched well to earn the victory and Mark Teixeira homered for the 20th time this season. Toronto, on the other hand, were one upped by the White Sox thanks to a grand slam from Conor Gillaspie.

On tap for this week, the AL Wild Card leading Mariners travel to Philadelphia to take on the Phillies while the Royals finish up their series against the Twins on Monday. Starting on Tuesday, the Indians will travel to Target Field to take on the Twins, the Royals will take on the Rockies in Colorado, the Tigers will head down to Tampa to face off against the Rays, the Yankees will welcome the Astros to town, and the Blue Jays will begin a series in Milwaukee against the Brewers.

Complete standings can be seen below.