Houston Astros Place Atop American League in Sports Illustrated's Power Rankings
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Now five games ahead of the New York Yankees, even after what was only their second winning week since July, the Houston Astros are firmly entrenched as the American League's top team.
Nick Selbe of Sports Illustrated ranked them as such in his latest MLB power rankings.
It is evident that the Astros have made the most of their season. Even though they are eclipsed by the Yankees in run differential, New York was won just 15 games since the trade deadline. That is not a recipe for success headed into the postseason.
Sure, the Yankees could creep above the Astros for the best American League squad, but they'd need to play near perfect baseball the final three weeks of the season while the Astros must collapse. Barring divine interference, that won't happen.
Head-to-head, Houston sports a better record than New York, winning five of their seven contests.
The Astros have been solid all throughout the second half, posting a .633 win percentage, good for a 102-win pace. That though, is still short of their first half pace, set at 105 wins.
However you look at it, the Astros have been wildly consistent and September has been no different. Houston has won three of three series they have played for +14 run differential.
With a magic number of 12 over Seattle with just 22 games to play, the Astros could hang their 2022 AL West banner by the end of this week with a little luck.
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