The 2010 Major League Baseball regular season is underway and after the first month of action some teams are beginning to make a statement while some others are off to a much slower start than expected. All 14 American League teams have a dream of making it all the way to this year’s World Series, but in reality there are only a handful of teams that actually have a chance. Here is a look at my top four teams in the AL after four weeks and their currents odds to win the Pennant and the World Series.
Tampa Bay Rays Odds to win the AL Pennant 11-2 World Series 11-1
Tampa Bay’s fast start continues as they have the best record in baseball at 18-7 and have gone 7-3 in their last 10 games. The lead New York by 1 ½ games and Toronto by 5 ½ games in the AL East. Last week they beat Oakland twice and took three out of four from Kansas City. They are one of the better hitting teams in the AL as they rank fifth with a team average of .263. Their pitching has been lights out as the lead the AL with a team ERA of just 3.01. The rotation has been led by Matt Garza and James Shields who have a combined record of 7-1. Garza leads the team with an ERA of 2.06.
New York Yankees Odds to win the AL Pennant 2-1 World Series 14-5
So far the defending Champs have been able to stay right on the Rays’ heels with a record of 16-8. They are coming off of series wins over Baltimore and Chicago (White Sox), taking two out of three from each. Overall they have won seven of their first eight series including wins over Boston, Tampa Bay, and the Orioles within their division. They currently rank second in the AL in hitting with a .278 team batting average. They are fourth in the AL in pitching with a team ERA of 3.63 led by Andy Pettitte’s 2.12 average.
Minnesota Twins Odds to win the AL Pennant 14-1 World Series 30-1
Minnesota finds them self atop of the AL Central by ½ game over Detroit with a 16-9 record. They have won seven of their first eight series including taking two out of three from Cleveland over the weekend. Before that they suffered their first series defeat, dropping two out of three to the Tigers to tighten up the division. Ranked third in the AL in hitting, they have a team batting average of .277. Their pitching has been equally productive with a team ERA of 3.65; good enough for fifth in the AL.
Detroit Tigers Odds to win the AL Pennant 11-1 World Series 24-1
The Tigers have now won five straight including a three game sweep of Los Angeles (Angels) over the weekend to take their record to 16-10. Before that they took two out of three from the Twins and two of four from Texas. Detroit has been getting it done primarily with their bats as they lead the entire MLB with a team batting average of .281. Austin Jackson leads the team with 40 hits and Miguel Cabrera has 35 hits and 27 RBI’s. Their pitching has been a little less spectacular as they are currently ranked seventh in the AL with a team ERA of 4.04.
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